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 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

Elder CJones: 3 Weeks Left

"I observed that they were also among the noble and great ones who were chosen in the beginning to be rulers in the Church of God. Even before they were born, they, with many others, received their first lessons in the world of spirits and were prepared to come forth in the due time of the Lord to labor in his vineyard for the salvation of the souls of men."

-Doctrine and Covenants 138:55-56

The mission is awesome!! I have been thinking this past week of all my experiences that I have had here in Mexico and I would not give it up for anything is the entire world! I know that the mission will and can change the lives of so many people!! I know this Gospel is true!!

I wish I had a little more time to write but time is short!! The church is true and it is the only source of true and eternal happiness!!
--
Elder Corom Jones

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 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 CJones: Trayendo Almas a Su Redil

"What you do in life echoes in eternity..." -President Brett J. Davies

Hellos to Everyone!!

I hope this letter finds everyone well and faithful in the Church. I know this Church to be true, and I testify that with all my heart. I know this work is the work of the Lord and he leads it. He has His
hand in all of it and we are work as His representatives.

It is now really really hot here in Reynosa. We get to about 105° everyday and there is not one cloud in the sky. The sun beats down on us all day, but we are working really hard to find the people that are looking for the gospel!

This last week we baptized three members of a part-member family and they were so excited to be baptized!! We will finish the month almost completing the mission goal of five baptisms a month per companionship. We are really happy that we had success this month and we are excited to see what the Lord will reveal to us during this next month.

For the first Saturday in August, we are working with an 18 year-old named Esmeralda. She is really excited to get baptized because she knows that she will receive the blessings that she needs for her
daughter that she will have in December.

I want to invite everyone to remember to read the Book of Mormon everyday. I know that if we do we will be in better position to resist temptation everyday!!

--
Elder Corom Jones

"My dear associates in the work of the Lord, I implore each of us to prayerfully study and ponder the Book of Mormon each day. As we do so, we will be in a position to hear the voice of the Spirit, to resist temptation, to overcome doubt and fear, and to receive heaven’s help in our lives. I so testify with all my heart." --Thomas S. Monson

Elder CJones: Start of the Canicula!

Hello Everyone!!

I am still here in Puertas del Sol, Reynosa. Still with Elder Bueso!! We are working really hard to be able to continue and work during the hot season!

This week we had six people in church!! It was so great!! We also had one baptism this week, an 80 year old man named Manuel!!

This week we will be working really hard to be able to baptize three more people this week that are really excited to get baptized!!

I love you all so much!!

--
Elder Corom Jones

Elder CJones: Love for a Common Interest

"Unity is strength... when there is teamwork and collaboration, wonderful things can be achieved."
- Mattie Stepanek

I am back in Reynosa, with a companion from Honduras, Elder Bueso.

This week, we worked just a few days together for some crazy changes that have passed this week. This is the last week of the Mexico Reynosa Mission, after this week it will no longer exist.

We are working with some investigators: Yaime, Manuel, Caroline, Guillermo, Natali, and Humberto.

Yaime is a young women, she is really cool and loves to talk with us. She is having a lot of problems with the Word of Wisdom, she is more of a liberal thinker, and it is making it hard for her to progress. She wants to be baptized, pray that she will be able to stop drinking and that she can be baptized.

Manuel is a really cool old man that comes to church by himself every week, he comes to all the activites as well!! We will be finishing up with him to try and baptize him this week!

Caroline, Guillermo and Natali are siblings. They love us as missionaries and they enjoy coming to church. We are working with their mom, she is a member but doesn't really have a strong desire to be active, she doesn't understand much of the church, she was baptized long ago but became an inactive. Pray that she will have a change of heart and will help her kids!!

Humberto is a reference from Temple Square. He was in Utah and visited the temple. Pray that his progression will continue!!

God really does work is mysterious ways. This last week I was thinking about the blessings tha God has given us during this time. Right now, the thing that everyone talks about is the World Cup. Even the people that don't play futbol watch the World Cup. When we went to Pizza Hut to eat this week, it was on. When we walk past homes, it is on. When we are walking in the streets, we hear screaming from in the house from the people watching. As we have been working, I thought about a quote from a movie that I saw years ago

Brock Kelley: So you think that God does care about football?

Grant Taylor: I think He cares about your faith. He cares about where your heart is. And if you can live your faith out on the football field then yes, God cares about football because He cares about you. He sent His son Jesus to die for us so we could live for Him. That's why we're here. But see, it's not just on the football field; we've got to honor Him in our relationships, our respect for authority, in the classroom, and when you're at home alone surfing the internet. I want God to bless this team so much that people talk about what He did. But it means we got to give Him our best in every area. If we win, we praise Him. And if we lose, we praise Him.

Now that Mexico is winning in the World Cup, the people have invited us to food, to enjoy the games with them and we have had the chance to meet knew people to teach and have been able to find a common interest to break the ice when talking to people.

Since I was a little kid, I remember something that my parents told me. "The Lord created everything for His benefit, and Satan changes them for his benefit." Something along those lines. I feel that God is using this World Cup to help us find new people to teach and boosting our spirits with everyone that invites us to eat.

Love you all!!

Elder Corom Jones

Elder CJones: Mejorar is Mejor que Cambiar

"Mejorar es Mejor que Cambiar"  -Elder Kemish Hidalgo

What a week! I have to say that I really love the mission. The spirit that comes from the work and the joy that comes when the people turn their lives to Christ is amazing!

This last week we had a baptism for Maricruz. She has been excited and nervous for her baptism but afterwards she told us that it was amazing and that the blessing of the changes in her life have been a miracle in her life.

We will be now working with her two kids, Junior and Esmeralda, to get them to be baptized and join their mom. They are a little rebellious, like every teenager, so we will be inviting them to activities and talking with them. We will also go and spend time with them so they can feel of the Savior's love.

We are starting a new program here in the ward. The missionary work here is really suffering at the moment and so we are working with the bishop and the leaders of the ward to help us with the work. We are hoping that the changes that were made in General Conference and the words of the prophet will change the hearts of the members. Please remember to pray for them.

I hope you know that I love you all!

I know this church is the only true church on the earth and that we have a true and living prophet!! I invite all to study the Book of Mormon and the testimony it gives of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and I promise, those who study and pray with an intent to learn and understand, will receive a testimony of the truthfulness of the book!

--
Elder Corom Jones

Elder CJones: General Conference April 2018

General Conference is always my favorite weekend of the year, the weekend where the worries of the world and of whatever is going on in life can melt away and we can hear the words of our prophet and apostles!

I would have to say that this conference was one of my favorite conferences that has taken place. I know that what we heard is true, I know that we have a living prophet on the earth!! I know that Book of Mormon prophets testified of this conference!!

Jacob 5:70-77

And it came to pass that the Lord of the vineyard sent his servant; and the servant went and did as the Lord had commanded him, and brought other servants; and they were few.

And the Lord of the vineyard said unto them: Go to, and labor in the vineyard, with your might. For behold, this is the last time that I shall nourish my vineyard; for the end is nigh at hand, and the season speedily cometh; and if ye labor with your might with me ye shall have joy in the fruit which I shall lay up unto myself against the time which will soon come.

And it came to pass that the servants did go and labor with their mights; and the Lord of the vineyard labored also with them; and they did obey the commandments of the Lord of the vineyard in all things.

And there began to be the natural fruit again in the vineyard; and the natural branches began to grow and thrive exceedingly; and the wild branches began to be plucked off and to be cast away; and they did keep the root and the top thereof equal, according to the strength thereof.

And thus they labored, with all diligence, according to the commandments of the Lord of the vineyard, even until the bad had been cast away out of the vineyard, and the Lord had preserved unto himself that the trees had become again the natural fruit; and they became like unto one body; and the fruits were equal; and the Lord of the vineyard had preserved unto himself the natural fruit, which was most precious unto him from the beginning.

And it came to pass that when the Lord of the vineyard saw that his fruit was good, and that his vineyard was no more corrupt, he called up his servants, and said unto them: Behold, for this last time have we nourished my vineyard; and thou beholdest that I have done according to my will; and I have preserved the natural fruit, that it is good, even like as it was in the beginning. And blessed art thou; for because ye have been diligent in laboring with me in my vineyard, and have kept my commandments, and have brought unto me again the natural fruit, that my vineyard is no more corrupted, and the bad is cast away, behold ye shall have joy with me because of the fruit of my vineyard.

For behold, for a long time will I lay up of the fruit of my vineyard unto mine own self against the season, which speedily cometh; and for the last time have I nourished my vineyard, and pruned it, and dug about it, and dunged it; wherefore I will lay up unto mine own self of the fruit, for a long time, according to that which I have spoken.

And when the time cometh that evil fruit shall again come into my vineyard, then will I cause the good and the bad to be gathered; and the good will I preserve unto myself, and the bad will I cast away into its own place. And then cometh the season and the end; and my vineyard will I cause to be burned with fire.

This work is true and I know that we are preparing for the Second Coming!!

--
Elder Corom Jones

"Easter is the day that changed EVERYTHING."
-Elder Dieter F Uchtdorf

Elder CJones: 17 Months

Well, this week was a pretty good week. The members began to help us with the missionary work and we began working with lots of references. The weather has gotten hot, like really hot, and it's a blessing when the members help us when it gets hot outside.

The heat really kills us and we have been looking for better ways to work so we aren't out in the sun so much. We thought that the help that we are getting with a few members will help grow the confidence between the rest of the members and is and then we will be able to have greater success.

This last week was Spring Break and the youth in the ward have been helping us reach their friends.

Junior, a young man that was baptized almost two years ago, is planning to serve a mission and he went out with us a couple times this week. He is honestly a really good teacher and understand the doctrine of the gospel so well that I know he will be a great missionary. On Tuesday, he took us  to visit his friend Jaqualine. She accepted a baptismal date and is really excited to come to church and learn more. If you can pray for her that her parents will have a more open heart to the gospel and let her come to church.

We also have been working with the Palomarez family. They are a member family that brought a friend to church and we are now teaching the friend and her two kids. They are really awesome. The mom will be getting baptized this week with her kids, we hope. Her kids are Ezmeralda and Junior, but not the same Junior who is planning to serve a mission haha.

Those are our people that Elder Ancco and I are teaching and focusing on at the moment, we are also trying to find more people to teach and it's getting a lot more difficult with the heat and humidity. Pray that we will be able to find some more people and families that are more willing to listen to the message of God.

So, something really interesting happened yesterday. We had stake conference and it was alright, not too well prepared, but it was good. Afterward, we got a ride to where we were going to eat and we got there before the family did so we waited outside in the shade on a small bench. As the family showed up, we saw a man coming toward us and he wanted to talk to us and we didn't feel the Spirit as he walked up and said that he wanted to talk to us.

At this point in the mission, a drunk is a normal thing to see and I know they always want to talk with us. I would have been fine with a drunk, but this was next level stuff. He started asking us who we were and what we were doing in business suits. We told him we had just returned from stake conference. He started telling us the he was the greatest guy ever and that all he had was thanks to Satan. This guy was a legit Satan worshipper! He rolled us his sleeve and he had a tattooed Satan on his arm and told us a bunch of trash about what he believed. He honestly just wanted to fight with us. We were kind to him even though he went off on a bunch of things. It was a very interesting experience.

Well, I have some really cool news!! Back in August and September, when I was serving in Valle Hermoso with Elder Hernandez, we baptized a mom and her daughter, Flora and Julieta. This week, Julieta will be finishing up her mission papers because when she completes a year in the church she wants to go on a mission!! It is one of the coolest things that you could ever hear, that your convert is not only active and serving in a calling in the church, but that they will be going on a mission!!! I am so excited for her!!

I absolutely love the mission and I know it blesses the life of the missionary and the people! Whoever has the chance to serve, do it!! It will only be the best thing you could ever do!!

Elder CJones: Temple

This picture was taken in front of the Monterrey Temple. We went there as a mission for a day to hear Elder Neil L. Andersen and receive some counsel from him for the mission.

July 1st is the day that the Mexico Reynosa Mission and the Mexico Monterrey East Mission the missions will be combined and we will be able to work in the area of Monterrey. They are still deciding the boundaries for the missions and we might get the temple area! If we get the temple in our area, I will have the opportunity to go before I come home, which I would honestly really love.

Elder CJones: Paciencia con 16 Meses

"As the Lord is patient with us, let us be patient with those we serve. Understand that they, like us, are imperfect. They, like us, make mistakes." -President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

I have been slacking in the mass e-mail that gets sent home every week, so I decided to start with writing it this week.

The mission is always a place to learn and to grow. For different situation there will always be an opportunity to get better. The mission is the greatest place to learn, no matter if you have 20 days or 20 months. I have been learning about patience, as well as many other attributes of Christ.

Ward Valentine Party

It is finally clicking that I am one of the older missionaries in the field. I have been able to understand that now that I have to be an example and be patient with the other missionaries. I know that the experiences and qualities that I learn and apply here will help me in the future. They will help me in my marriage, my family, my career, and my schooling.

The mission is an amazing thing. A mission is a place where, whomever serves, will learn so many qualities that are essential to a successful life in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

I want to give some advice to those that are thinking about going on a mission and those that are barely starting for the mission.

1- Throw that ego out the window, on the mission you will truly learn the meaning of humility, you are nothing and God is everything, without Him, you are NOTHING. Learn it now or it will be harder when you get out in the field.

2- After that harsh point, the mission is the greatest thing you can do up to this point in your life.. It will help you grow into the person that God wants and needs you to be, not what you need or want to be.

I know the mission is a blessing, it will test if you are truly willing to follow the example of Jesus Christ

--
Elder Corom Jones

"He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep." -John 21:17

At the U.S. Border at Matamoros

Elder CJones: Matamoros

Last week, we had transfers. I was transferred from Rio Bravo to Matamoros. It is the biggest city in our mission. I am here with Elder Ancco from Lima, Peru.

Also, a couple weeks ago they announced changes to our mission. Presidente Regalado  has already shared them with us. The Church is going to close the Mexico Monterrey East Mission and add most of the missionaries and the area to our mission. A small portion will go to the Mexico Monterrey Mission. We will add about 25 more wards and 3 stakes. So, we are preparing to get more missionaries from the Monterrey East Mission and begin to help the other areas. Everything will happen on the 1st of July.  I will only have three months left on my mission by then. But,  I've noticed that there have been fewer missionaries coming out every month, so they are adjusting to the changes in that way, as well.

Today was my first P-Day in Matamoros. I went on splits with another missionary that has had time here in Matamoros. We walked through the city and showed me the different places, sadly, my camera battery died and I couldn't take any pictures. We saw the international point, so I did see the United States. This area is great! It's big and the bishop is AWESOME!! He is helping us and the ward to grow. Our goal is to reactivate a lot of people and baptize so it can be split into two wards. There are about 130 active members of a ward of 850! We will be working with everyone to get all of them to church.

There are just four of us in our district. Like I said, my new companion is from Lima, Peru and is really, really cool. He has been a member his whole life but was inactive for a time. He has six months in the field and LOVES soccer. When he was inactive he played a ton of it and became a really good shot. He also has a cool crown tattoo on his right leg. Ha ha.

Elder Annco (left)  y Elder Mera

The weather here is TERRIBLE! It's already really, really hot and it's only February. I don't do so well in the heat. This is the city that gets the hottest in the mission because it is right next to the ocean. However, other than that, everything is going well and we are working really hard!! Thanks for everything, love you tons!!

Love you all!!
Elder Corom Jones

Elder Torrico

Elder CJones: In A Hurry

Everything is good here, tomorrow I have cambios and I will be serving in Matamoros.

Elder CJones: La Familia--Una Bendicion de Dios

En verdad, siento que es más sencillo cuando hablo en Español.

La Familia es algo que me ha dado bastantes bendiciones en mi vida. Durante la mision es cuando yo he compredido la importancia de la familia por mi y por Dios. Amo a mi familia mucho y sé que me ayudan en todo, me han dado animo y la qyuda en la mision y en la vida.

Pues, algunas personas me preguntaron de la mision. Nosotros empezamos nuestros servicios a la iglesia a la 1 cada semana. Tenemos algunos investigadores y siempre contactamos y fijamos actividades a encontrar mas personas. Estamos ayudando una familia para bautizarse esta semana. Oren por nosotros y que el Espiritu pueda tocar sus corazones.

Mi peso ha cambiado mucho, estoy bajando lentamente, tengo como 200 libras. El clima es interesante, a veces hace frio y otros días hace calor. Yo estoy bien fisicalmente, saludable y bien. Mi piel no ha cambiado mucho desde el verano, pues eso creo yo.

Entere estas semana hemos visito mas personas dispuestos a escuchar por año nuevo y que quieren cambiar sus vidas.

Quiero invitar a todos a escuchar en martes a nuestro profeta Presidente Nelson, y invitar a algunas personas que necesiten bendiciones, para que puedan intentar a buscar su proposito en la vida.

--
Elder Corom Jones


Translation:

Truthfully, I feel it is easier when I speak in Spanish. 

The family is something that has given me many blessings in my life. It has been during my mission where I have come to understand the importance of family for me and for God. I love my family very much and I know that they help me in everything. They have given me encouragement and help in my mission and in life.

Well, some people asked me questions about the mission. We start our church services at 1:00 p.m. on Sundays. [Right now] we have some investigators and we always [try to] contact and set activities to find more people. We are helping a family to be baptized this week. Pray for us so the Spirit may  touch their hearts. 

My weight has changed a lot. I am slowly losing weight. I'm like 200 pounds. The weather is interesting, sometimes it's cold and other days it's hot. I am in physically good and healthy condition. My skin has not changed in my tan color much since summer, at least I don't think so.

During the week, we visit more people who are willing to listen for the new year and who want to change their lives.

I want to invite everyone to listen on Tuesday to our prophet President Nelson, and invite some people who need blessings, so they can try to find their purpose in life.

Elder CJones: No Manches es 2018!

Talking with the Fam: Christmas 2017~!

I can't believe we are in 2018! It's crazy to think that I left for my mission in 2016.

I had a great holiday! I have the wonderful chance to talk with my family and enjoy the holiday season in Mexico. I know that this season is here for us to remember Christ and the gift that He is for us as we continue to work hard.

We had a baptism this last week, Julia. She is a lady that we found a couple weeks ago and she is doing really well in her progress in the Gospel and in life. She is the first convert baptism for my companion!

With the lack of time today, I don't have much to say, but know that we have started a new year, now is a time to think and be better, we should always look for how we can always get better in our lives!

--
Elder Corom Jones

"Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God" (Ether 12:4).

NOG!!!