Elder CJones: Valle Hermoso and a Miracle

"Now when our hearts were depressed, and we were about to turn back, behold, the Lord comforted us, and said: Go amongst thy brethren, the Lamanites, and bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will give unto you success."
-Alma 26:27

I came to this city of "Valle Hermoso" on Tuesday and I am really enjoying the area and the people! My new companion is from Veracruz. He is a really hard worker and we got a lot done this week. In this area we ride bikes because we are able to get a lot more done through the day. My legs are getting stronger due biking and I am getting healthier. Ha ha.

We have found a handful of families that want to be taught.

Francisco and Dulce are a young couple that don't have a lot. They have a desire to go to church and to learn. Years ago, missionaries talked with them so they have a Book of Mormon but have yet to read it. They are married. They are just working on their desire and they can be baptized in a couple weeks.

Milser and Rosendo are a really young couple--Rosendo is 20 and Milser is 15. They are not married bu we are working with them to gather the money and get them married. They have a ton of desire to change and come to church. They have come to Church once, but they work a lot because they are preparing to have a baby. They need prayers to find and save the money to come to church.

Victor and his family have a small desire to come to church and can feel the power of the Spirit when we teach them. They need to save money to get married, as well.

Adriana is a wonderful lady. Two of her sons are members of the Church and she knows that it is the right path but she is a little fearful of commitments and going to church. She feels a lot of pressure but wants to change. She loves the Book of Mormon and reads it all the time. Pray for her and her family that they will help her be a convert to the church.

Those are the people and families we are teaching right now. Our goal in our area for the month of June is 15 baptisms. Please pray that the people will accept our message and that they will want to follow the example of our Lord Jesus Christ.

This week I learned something really really powerful about how the Lord is watching over each one of us and that we need to constantly listen for the Spirit so that we can be His hands. One of the elders with me here in Valle Hermoso was one of the elders that lived with me in Bugambilias in Februrary and March. On Friday, he asked me if I ever heard the whole story of one of my converts, I hadn't and he told me the story. I will use both sides of the story to tell what happened. My side is the normal font and the different font type is that of our investigator.

I started serving in Bugambilias, an area of Reynosa, on January 2. This particular day my companion and I contacted an apparently "golden family". We worked with this family for a month and this slowly progressed to one night when we had a FHE planned for them. It was a cold rainy night, January 27th, they decided that since the weather was cold they wanted to stay at home. Sadly we headed in the direction of our home to warm up and discuss our plans for the next day. As we passed a small neighborhood we had a strong feeling to contact one more house. We entered the neighborhood, walking down the streets we felt that a certain house needed our message. After the initial knock we were greeted by a man, short and full of energy, Nacho. He invited us in and as we got to know him we learned that he had been baptized 17 years before, but after moving and not finding the church, he became inactive.

Elderes, I would like to share with you the experience I had with Elder Jones and Elder Carrizales when they first came to my house. They visited me on January 27th at night, well that morning I had a dream, a dream that I was walking in a area very dark and in the distence I could see a light, a pillar of light, I began to walk toward the pillar and I felt a hand on my shoulder, an angel stood next to me and said, "Irving, your family has a lot of problems right now, do you want to save this relationship? Does it mean enough to you?" "Yes, I want to keep my two kids and fix the problems I have in my relationship." I continued to walk closer to the light and as I proceeded closer I was stopped again by the angel, "Irving, your family has a lot of problems right now, do you want to save this relationship? Does it mean enough to you?" "Yes"I repeated. As I arrived at the light, I saw there was a hole in teh ground, again I felt a hand on my shoulder, "Irving, your family has a lot of problems right now, do you want to save this relationship? Does it mean enough to you?" "Yes, I really do" I jumped into the light and a strong hand caught me before I fell, "Irving, do you really want to save it?" "Yes, I really do!" As the angel let me go I woke up on the floor next to my bed. 

I began to pack my clothes, I was going to leave my family after I finished work that night, I was going to leave if nothing happened. And as the day came to a close Elder Carrizales and Elder Jones knocked on my door, I had a bad attitude about this, I just wanted them to share their message and leave. 

Walking into the house, we started to get to know the family and how they were doing. They seeme happy. The husband was talking a lot and the wife was standing silent in the corner of the room. As we prepared to pray with the family, we had an impression to ask the wife if she had any questions. She asked, "Do you know how to fix a relationship?"As she asked this, both of them started to crazy and ask for help, they really wanted to better their relationship and their family but were having a lot of problems.

We worked with them for almost three months. After those three months the Spirit was able to abide in their home. They are active in the Church and Irving was able to baptize the wife after they were married. They have a goal next to travel to Tampico next April, where Nacho is from, to be sealed for time and all eternity.

I testify of the truthfulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and as we truly turn our lives to the Savior that we can have a changed life, we can feel of His love for each one of us. Through this experience, I know that Heavenly Father knows each one of us and that He cares and wants the best for us all. I know this work is real and I testify of the reality of Christ love for each one of us. I testify of His Gospel and the reality of His Infinite Matchless Love.

--
Elder Corom Jones

PS - Oh there was a tornado here this week haha!


“There is no greater work than that of missionary work. There is nothing so wonderful—nothing—as tasting the joy and success of missionary labors."
-LeGrand Richards

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