Elder EJones: Week 2

Me and the mango tree in front of my pension

This week has been a week of lots of learning and lots of progressing.

First off, I learned that I can't understand a word that anyone here is speaking. So I'm learning to trust in the Lord more and more, and to rely on the Spirit more and more as I do all I can to listen and to learn Spanish.

I also feel much better than I did. Last Tuesday I was up and running back to normal, thanks so much for the prayers. I've been feeling good health wise, but the language is hard. It's hard to understand what others are saying, and I'm learning patience to be able to speak the language and understand it.

The food is good. Lots of rice and potatoes and chicken. Things are good with my comp. He doesn't speak much English, so I help him with English as he helps me with Spanish. I'm learning how to have patience as a companion, to overcome our differences, and trust in the spirit to guide us. Elder Reyes is a great companion.

The heat isn't too bad . . . it's the humidity that is killer! haha.

This Sunday was great! We had ward conference and the coolest part to me was to be able to sustain President Nelson. This is something I'll be able to do this Saturday, as well. And I was abler to focus more. I am just grateful for the same gospel and Spirit no matter where I am. We did have a couple friends come to church, but as many as we invited actually came when we went to pick them up.

I've learned this week a lot about patience. That I need to be patient and things will work out. Especially with learning and understanding Spanish.

This past week we met lots of people through contacting. The people here are really receptive to listening and allowing us to share messages with them. This week we found two new friends to teach, Andrea, and Jose. Both are learning so much. Andrea is going to school and is receptive to what were teaching, and has a baptismal date for the 27th of October. Jose is learning a lot, and has been really receptive to it all, he has a really good understanding of the Bible, and everything is just clicking with him to why we have and need the Book of Mormon.

This week has been hard, but I'm learning. Can't wait to continue to be able to preach this message of Joy and love that the Lord has for us. And I CANT WAIT for General Conference. I know that prophets and apostles are called of God!!

With Love,
Elder Jones

Elder ZJones: Be Ye Therefore Perfect

One of the great teachings of the Man of Galilee, the Lord Jesus Christ, was that you and I carry within us immense possibilities. In urging us to be perfect as our Father in Heaven is perfect, Jesus was not taunting us or teasing us. He was telling us a powerful truth about our possibilities and about our potential. It is a truth almost too stunning to contemplate. Jesus, who could not lie, sought to beckon us to move further along the pathway to perfection.

We are not yet perfect as Jesus was, but unless those about us can see us striving and improving, they will not be able to look to us for example, and they will see us as less than fully serious about the things to be done.

Each of us has more opportunities to do good and to be good than we ever use. These opportunities lie all around us. Whatever the size of our present circle of effective influence, if we were to improve our performance even a little bit, that circle would be enlarged. There are many individuals waiting to be touched and loved if we care enough to improve in our performance.  -Pres. Kimball

I know that it is through living the example of Jesus Christ that we can become more and more like Him. We have to do our part to work hard and learn of the ways that He served, worked, and taught! I know that it will bring happiness and joy.

This week we are teaching Jeramias and Ada. They have a lot of faith. In my mission experience, I haven't had a lot of people we are teaching read the Book of Mormon when we have invited them to do so because they really havenlt wanted to read it for themselves. But Jeramias and Ada are reading everything we assign them and they understand what they are reading! They came to church this Sunday with us and they have been to church a lot before. We will pray to know if we should baptize them this weekend or the next. We want to help their mom to understand the truth s of the gospel, but she doesn't want to stop smoking. Pray for her. Her name is Annabella.

And Javier and Rocio, the couple we have been working with for a while now, they will be getting married on the 21st!! But Javier has a problem with the Word of Wisdom. Please Pray for him that he will have the desire to stop smoking and drinking so that he can be baptized.

And pray for Kayra that we can help her and her family. Pray that she can be baptized and receive

the Holy Ghost as a constant Guide!

Love you all!

Elder Jones

Bolivian Food

Elder HJones: Live the Gospel

This week was definitely one to remember.

Amanda, Ayleen, Jasmin, and Valentina

This week I had two conferences with President Ferreira. One conference was in Antofagasta. I had to travel 8 hours in a bus to get there! The other conference was in Copiapo, really close where I am serving. I learned a lot! One thing that I really liked was something that our mission president said, "Cuando vivimos el Evangelio, empezamos a entender y sentir mas." This is true. When we live the gospel, when we keep the commandments, we will understand more and feel closer to our Heavenly Father. I have seen it this past week. When people start to change and live the gospel, they are happier. Because this gospel brings happiness!

So here's a funny Story: On Saturday my companion and I were picking up baptismal clothes for our baptisms. We met the person bringing the clothing in front of a casino... a really expensive casino! And we were about to leave and President Ferreira pulls up in his car with his wife and daughter.and he invited us to eat lunch with him! And we ate at a really expensive nice place. It was way good!

This week we had four baptisms. God has blessed us a lot. They are all daughters of less active members. Their families have experienced a lot of difficulties both inside and outside of the church. But now they are coming to church. We are helping them to become eternal families!

Hasta Luego,
Elder Jones

Elder HJones: Mountains to Climb

It was a rough week. But that's good because without bad weeks I wouldn't know good weeks. The members here don't always find time to help us, so it is difficult to have lessons with members. So this next week Elder Lopez and I really want to help the members find joy in missionary work.

Today for P-Day we made milanesa! It was way good. And we finally got to do a service project. We painted a fence light green! The best part is that we did it in our white shirts!

We also had a miracle this past week. With an investigator named Lilian. I don't want to tell you the story until she gets baptized though. Ha ha. But pray for her. She really has a desire to find the true church. She is one of those investigators that I know God prepared beforehand for us to teach!

On Wednesday, I went on intercambios (24 hour companion switch) with one of the zone leaders, Elder Sheridan. My companion went somewhere else and I stayed in my area so I had the opportunity of leading our area for that day. At first I didn't want to, my Spanish isn't that good, and I don't know the area that well. But it turned out to be one of the best experiences on my mission so far. I learned so much about myself and I really felt the Saviors help.

We are constantly given "mountains to climb." We are given trials and difficulties, but its good for us. These difficulties strengthen us, and help us learn more about ourselves. I am grateful for trials!

 Love you all, Elder Jones

"Be faithful unto the end, and lo, I am with you. These words are not of man nor of men, but

of me, even Jesus Christ, your Redeemer, by the will of the Father."  D&C 31:13

Elder CJones: Mission Objective - Preach and Serve to Invite ALL to Come unto Christ

My new area is HUGE!! and when I say huge, I mean it. My area is one of the 2 biggest areas in my mission. We do a lot of walking. There are days it takes us over an hour to reach our first lesson because it is on the other side of our area. I really am getting good at walking, believe it on not! My companion and I are getting along really, really well. We work really hard through the days and we help each other a lot to make the best of the work and even when it gets hard, we work to do the best we can.

So, the food here is Mexico is always spicy, which I love, don't get me wrong. But when they say something is spicy, oh boy is it spicy! This week we had a mission conference which lasted from the morning into the late afternoon and so, as usual, they fed us. I will say the tacos were amazing, but the heap of salsa that I put on it wasn't so much. To say the least, it hurt, going on and coming out, but that's the life of a missionary.

This week we are planning on a lot of things to do. A family that we have been teaching is getting all the work done to be a legal wedded family. One of the big problems out here in Mexico is that a lot of people live together but they aren't married. To be able to baptize these people, they need to be married or they need to live in separate homes. This week we are working with a family to get them married. We have to work on a ton of papers and they have to take a ton of tests so they can legally be married. We are hoping that they will come to church this week and the next and if they do we will have a baptism that night, which happens to be my brother's birthday. Happy Birthday Abram!

I have been reading Jesus the Christ for my personal study and really studying the importance of the life He led and how we can use that example as our example. Jesus Christ is so important to all of us. Without Him, we would not be who we are today, we would have no chance at anything but Hell. But as we turn to Christ and use Him in all of our dealing, He can change us, He can change out hearts and homes so we can be the best we can be with a change of heart. I have seen this with the family that I can teaching, they have problems with coffee and with being married, it's really expensive for the people here to be married, $1000 MXN, which is about $50 US. This family has nothing, their house tiny and they barely have the food to survive from week to week, but they show their faith by not drinking coffee and paying a lot to get married just so they can be baptized in our church.

This Gospel is the greatest blessing that I could have ever asked for. I love the feelings that I get when I share what the Gospel has done for me as I use it to change and enhance my life and the lives of the people here in Mexico. There is a feeling that comes with serving a mission that doesn't come at any other time or place in our lives. I am so glad I took this opportunity to serve and to come to love the people here in Mexico.

I know that our lives can change as we look to the Lord in everything that we are doing on our lives. I love the work that I am doing and I hope that all of you will find a way to become closer to the Lord everyday in your lives. None of us are perfect, we all make mistakes, but I know that with Christ, we can become perfected. Don't ever judge others of their decisions, even if they hurt you. As we constantly strive to become more like Christ we will know that what He would do is simply help them along the way. I love you all and hope you will serve and bring joy to someone else this week. -

- Until next week,
Elder Corom Jones

"When we withhold forgiveness from others we are in effect saying that the atonement alone was insufficient to pay for this sin. We are holding out for more. We are finding fault with the Lord's offering. We are in essence demanding that the Lord repent of an insufficient atonement. So when we fail to forgive another, it is as if we are failing to forgive the Lord - who, as you [know], needs no forgiveness." -James L Ferrell (The Peacegiver)