Elder EJones: One Year!

HELLO!!

Crazy to think, but this week I completed a year in the mission!! It has been a great year, and like everyone says the best year of my life. I have learned a lot. Learned to trust God more. I have learned more of who Jesus Christ is, and what his Atonement personally means to me.

1 Timothy 4:12
"Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity."

I love this scripture. Remember that we are examples in all that we do. As we strive to be more like our Savior Jesus Christ, we will find what we need to continue in our lives will happiness.

Love you all,
Elder Jones

Elder ZJones: Bendiciones del Senor

 

This week has been one to remember! I saw the Lord helping us in many ways. This past Sunday we helped a family of cousins and friends come to church. Five of them came and they loved it! We are teaching them and helping them a lot. We are preparing them to be baptized this weekend and helping them to receive the Holy Ghost. We are super excited and grateful that the Lord has helped us with this family.

Yesterday, as we passed by to visit them, one girl said that she does't feel ready to be baptized. But we explained to her that the Lord has specific blessings for her that He wants to give to her now. We also explained why we are baptized. It is to help us to become clean of sin. We don't have to be perfect before we are baptized, we need to follow Him and trust that he will help us and guide us. Pray for them this week that they can prepare for this weekend. (Rudolfo, Patricia, Monica, Agustin and Jazmin).

We are also helping a couple, Javier and Rocio, to get married. They have all their papers ready and will be getting married in a month. We are excited for them and will continue to help them to come to church and to do those things that they are doing now.

I hit a year in the mission which is super crazy to think! I am grateful for all the things that I have learned. I am grateful for Jesus Christ and His Atonement, The Plan of Happiness, and that Families are centered in His Plan.

In The Family, A Proclamation To The World, it says:
"Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities."

When these priniciples are in the home, God will bless us, strengthen us and guide us!

Love You! Have a great week!

Elder Jones

Elder HJones: Take Up Your Cross and Follow Him

I don't really like to think a lot about how much time I have. A lot of missionaries think about how much time they have, and many know how many days they have remaining. I don't like to think a lot about how much time I have or how much I have left. But I do have to say, time flies!! I can't believe that I hit halfway this week. It's really crazy. There is a feeling a joy and happiness knowing that I  have accomplished one year in the mission. But, it's also sad to think that in a year I will have to remove the name badge.

Everything is normal now for me in Chile (or shall I say, everything is normal for me here in Paipote). I am pretty sure that I should just buy a house right here because I don't think I will every leave! haha  Yes, I am used to the food, the language (even though I cannot speak perfectly yet), and I love the culture.

So this past week, I was able to speak in sacrament meeting. I still remember the first time I spoke in sacrament meting as a missionary. I was really nervous and the members probably didn't understand anything that I said! ha ha

But this time, as I prepared my talk, I thought of two questions. Questions that I am trying to apply better in my life to help strengthen my testimony and help others gain a testimony.

1. What has Jesus Christ done for me?
2. What am I willing to do for Him?

Jesus has done everything for everyone one of us. We can never repay Him for the many things that  He has done. But what are we willing to do for Him? Are you willing to follow His example and "take up your cross?" I know that we can never repay Him. But we can do what He commands. We can do the simple things in this gospel to take up our crosses and follow Him.

Les amo! Elder Jones

Elder CJones: One Year!

"You are doing hard things" -Mom

This week I completed one year in the mission. It has gone so fast and it's crazy to think that I am here. I love this missionary work and sometimes I wish that it would move slower so that I could work more each day.

This week, Elder Martinez and I have been studying a lot together. I want to share one thing I learned this week.

My companion posed the question, "What is the difference between Wisdom and Knowledge?" Thinking deeper, we entered a conversation that made me think. Knowledge is just the information that you know to be true. Everybody has knowledge. Wisdom is the application of the knowledge that we have. Wisdom means that we show true faith.

James 1:5 says,"If any of you lack wisdom." This means that we need to have the intention to follow through on the knowledge that God will give us when we ask and that is when He will give the response.

We are teaching a lot of families and people. We are focused on five for right now. Yulieta and Mia are sisters and are really looking forward to a baptism on Saturday. We will be working with them this week for that.

Nataly, Daniel, and Angel are a family. Nataly is the mom and her two sons are Daniel and Angel. We will be working with them for baptism in November. Pray that they will be able to find the answers that they are looking for!

I know this church is true and I know and testify that God lives!!

--
Elder Corom Jones