Merry Christmas y'all! 

Can't believe Christmas has already passed. It's really crazy. I remember when I got here and it was Halloween and then Thanksgiving and now Christmas. So insane. It has gone by so fast. 

This week was kinda weird with Christmas and all. It didn't just feel like Christmas since I didn't get to watch It's a Wonderful Life like my family normally does on Christmas Eve. I missed the traditions but that's just what Christmas on a mission is like. 

This week we did a good amount of service. I was on exchanges in a town called Elgin. He and I are both greenies haha and we went around to do some service tracting. We went around asking people if they wanted service and I was surprised that people didn't want it haha. They all just rejected us and didn't want FREE help. Like who doesn't want FREE help? But anyways I guess thats what normal tracting is like. 

But Christmas turned out to be pretty fun. It was my first and probably my last Christmas in the country 😂. We went to our stake president and bishop's house for a little bit. We spent some good time with them and it made Christmas a lot better. We were able to talk to some of his extended family and his son on a mission. But Bishop's son is a senior in high school and so he and I are kinda tight haha. We play basketball together on p days and he calls me Jimmer. So ya it's kinda funny. But then he showed us in his room a signed Jimmer jersey which I thought was pretty cool cause Jimmer is a stud hahaha. 

But not much else happened this week. We got 6 people to sacrament meeting! That was a super big accomplishment since we haven't had anyone come in a long time! It was super cool to see them hop on the zoom link or come in person. So that was a blessing. 

Oh ya I forgot to mention. I spoke in sacrament meeting. All four of the missionaries in the Columbia ward were first asked to sing together and we all didn't really want to haha. We all don't have good voices and so it woulda been bad haha. But we met with bishop on Wednesday and he told us that we were gonna speak rather than sing. I was grateful cause I'd rather speak than sing. All four of us spoke. I had to speak on how Light the World is helping the world for the Second Coming. But it was actually way awesome. I love speaking. 

Here's a quick little spiritual thought for yall this week, its in Matthew 7:24-27

Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:

 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.

And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:

And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.

We need to be like the wise men. We need to HEAR the word and DO it!! We cannot be like the foolish man that HEARS the word and DOESN’T follow it. The only difference is the ACTION. They both HEAR the word yet only the wise man takes action and DOES what he is asked to do! 

I hope y'all had an amazing Christmas and have a wonderful New Year! Love y'all! 

ELDER JONES 

God's Plan

 

Well. Another week gone. 

Felt like I just wrote an email. But here we go again. 

This week has been full of good things. From Monday night to Tuesday night I had exchanges. I was companions with another greenie. Crazy how they put us both together for a day with only being in the field for like 3 weeks. It went well and we had a good time. And I finally got to drive which is so nice cause I haven't driven in months.

This week was just full of doing service and we had a couple awesome teaching appointments! Service is always a good time. We were able to hand out service flyers in a neighborhood and so I got a little bit of the tracting experience. It was a good time doing that. Yet we were in a little sketchy neighborhood but still, good times. 

We met with a less active member this week. He hasn't been to church in 25 years. He was so personable and just so easy to talk to. Well after 25 years of not coming back to church, he wants to come back. Like really wants to come back. So we just talked for like an hour and a half and it was just so cool. Idk how to describe it but man I just know I'm here in South Carolina to help him come back to church. It's all part of God's Plan! He even set his own expectations on when to come back! Can't wait to help him come back to church.

Well, President Nelson's message on Friday was just the best. It was awesome being able to hear from a prophet who gives us specific and direct revelation that God wants us to hear and do today! So cool being able to see him pray for us and just hear of his love. It was so awesome. So y'all can just watch it again cause it's amazing. 

Anyways, idk what else to say. Just a lot of working and serving and staring at a computer screen all day. But missionary work is awesome. 

Love y'all!! 

ELDER JONES

Third Week

This week has been pretty good! I did have a terrible migraine on Monday night after we played basketball and had dinner. After a lesson, we went home at 9 and I went to bed right after. I couldn't sleep so my comp gave me a blessing and it helped a TON! I was able to fall asleep and the next morning I didn't have a headache.

We did more service this week. More painting which was fun. Our friend, Patricia, has a ton of questions. So we were able to answer a ton of the Bible questions she has. I hope we can help her progress.

We have been able to teach a bit this week too. We taught a lady named Angela. She wants her cousin to learn about the gospel with her so we are gonna meet again next week its exciting. We also had a first lesson with a woman named Chasity. The question she has was how she knows which denomination is the right denomination and I was so pumped when she asked that! So we're hoping to teach her the restoration this next week, hopefully with her fiancee. I'm so excited!! A lot of teaching is over the phone and stuff which I'm not used to, but I hope that I will. 

This week I had interviews with my mission president, President Monson. He is nice and asked about Facebook finding and my Spanish and just getting used to the mission life. It was a good little convo. I then talked to Sister Monson and she's awesome. She just asked some get to know you questions and she's an awesome person. Needless to say, interviews went well. 

On Thursday we went and had dinner with Boesl family. They are such a cool family. Just their warmness and kindness made me feel at home. We had baked ziti and it was good stuff. We played basketball with their son on Monday. It was a good time. It's cool to be on the other side now as a missionary and see how awesome families are.

On Saturday we were at the church doing some Facebook finding and our bishop called. He wanted us to get to his house so we could have pancakes. So we got over there and had some good pancakes and then just talked with him. Bishop Edwards is like the coolest guy!! 

A couple days this week it POURED rain. I've never seen it rain for that long that hard. It was pretty awesome.

I love being a missionary. I love sharing the gospel with others and giving others the light they're lacking in their lives. I love sharing the love Jesus Christ has with others.  Even though it's not Panama it's awesome being here and having the experiences I'm having here. Cause I know the Lord needs me here for specific people! I love this gospel.

LOVE YOU TONS!! 

ELDER ABRAM JONES

Unforgettable

 

Well, it's been a good week. 

It started off a little rough. I was pretty homesick on Monday, just missing the fam and being at home. Yet I was able to call my family on Monday night and it helped a ton haha it was really good to see them. 

Honestly the days just mold into one another. We do so much and so it kinda just goes and goes. We do a lot of stuff on Facebook. A lot of adding people and it is hard. We try to find people and add them and then message them about the gospel yet people just leave me on read (I'm already used to that cause I would get left on read all the time at home 😂). But it's a lot and a lot of people just don't want to hear from missionaries haha. Some guys thought I was a guy from state farm I thought it was funny cause it happened with two guys in a row hahaha. 

We had a lot of meetings this week. We had a zone conference on Tuesday,  it was like 5 hours long on zoom but I'm used to that because of the MTC hahaha. It was really good though, I heard a lot of stuff that I needed to hear. 

We were able to do service this week for a lady named Patricia. She is awesome! We went last week to help with her yard and this week we painted a room in her house. Good thing I have some experience from work haha shoutout to elder Moore! Haha. It was sweet cause she started talking to us about the things about her church that she doesn't like. Like pastors getting paid. And not willing to help or serve. And not caring about her problems. And not having a personal relationship with God. My comp and I were able to give her a Book of Mormon and share our testimonies with her. It was such a cool experience! 

We had a baptism this week for a guy named David. My comp and I had 2 lessons with the guy. One over the phone and the other was going over the baptismal interview questions. He got baptized on Saturday and it was a cool experience. From the other missionaries, we heard that he had a problem with nicotine and tea but it was awesome to see him progress so much in a week and stop doing those things. It was so cool seeing him be baptized and see how excited he was. I was able to participate in the confirmation and that was so cool!!

This week has been really good! I really hope to find and teach more people this week and I know it'll happen!! I love being a missionary. It's the hardest thing I've done before. I can tell it's gonna be the hardest 2 years of my life. But it will be worth it. 

Jesus Christ has overcome all things and because He has, we can!! Jesus Christ is living! He is our Savior and He loves us!! 

Thanks for your prayers and support!! Have a good week y'all!!

Elder ZJones: Look Unto Me in Every Thought-Doubt Not, Fear Not

It was a good week.

We helped Brian and Sol to be baptized. It was a huge blessing for us and awesome to see the change in their lives. Brian is 18 and we contacted him a while ago in the park. He was lost and talked to us a lot about the devil. We helped him to grow his faith and now he had a lot of friends at church and his mom is preparing to be baptized.

Sol is 9. We found her brother in the street. She was excited all week and her family is coming to church. We are going to help them that they can continue to go. We don't just baptize, but we help them to continue to grow, to become converted.

We are preparing this week to baptize the Vegapuente Family. They came to church and love it! They are feeling the Spirit and know that these things are true. They asked about the responsibilities that they will have after baptism. We talked to them about the commandments and taking Christ's name upon themselves. We are excited for them. We have a lot of futures, or people that still need some progression, but we know this week will be great.

Cambios this week .... Elder Burk will be leaving. He will be going to Junin. It's the farthest area in our mission. He has been assigned as a traveling AP. He will be in charge of the campo. Presidente wants to make the campo area a stake before the October General Conference. So he put a lot more missionaries there so that they can reactivate and teach people who can have the priesthood in there home. I will be staying here in Rodriguez and will be receiving Elder Rivera as my new companion. He is from Mexico. This is his last transfer in the mission. He is really mellow and works hard, so I'm excited. Please pray that we will work well together and that we can have an awesome transfer where the Lord can use us!

What else happened?

Well, we did service for the Guzman Family right after the baptism, and Brian came to help us! We moved dirt into a home they are building to level out the ground. They are excited to go to the temple and get sealed in a year. On Sunday, Santos received the Aaronic Priesthood. I really want to come back when they are sealed in the temple! We will see!

It was a good week. Sad to see Elder Burk leaving but I know that he will do some big things where he is going!

We are preparing a family to be baptized this week, The Vegapuente Family. There are four in the family, Enrique, Jessica, Naomi, and Philipe.

I read this scripture block this morning: Doctrine And Covenants 6:36-37

Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not.

Behold the wounds which pierced my side, and also the prints of the nails in my hands and feet; be faithful, keep my commandments, and ye shall inherit the kingdom of heaven. Amen.

I know that it is through Christ that we will have hope. He will guide and give us the light that we need. Look to Him in everything and follow His counsels.

Thanks for everything!

Elder EJones: Talk?

This week was good, like a normal week.

Finding and teaching more and more people everyday. One thing I learned from my companion, Elder Bello, is showing the lessons that we teach to people and letting them choose what message they want to learn and be taught. It makes it so that they can feel they have a message that they want to learn and one that can help them.

We helped an investigator wheelbarrow lots of dirt from the front of her yard to where she is building her house and it was super fun.

Things here in Quior 2 are really good. We are finding really good people that are progressing and they always need our prayers to keep pressing forward and having faith in the Lord.

So this week, we walked into the church like seven minutes early or so, and one of the brothers comes up to us and is like "Yeah, so the two people that had talks today can't make it...so can you two give 10 minute talks?" So Elder Bello and I gave sacrament meeting talks and had like two minutes to prepare. I felt like it was giving a lesson mas o menos (more or less), but it was funny how we were asked to speak and it was good.

I also got to bless the sacrament in Spanish which was really cool. I'm so grateful that the gospel is the same, that the Atonement is for everyone no matter where we are or what language we are speaking.

I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. That in anything, when looking for answers or direction, we can turn to the Book of Mormon and find what we need. I know that it testifies of Jesus Christ, and that he truly lives. This gospel is true, and the Lord helps us as we help ourselves, and get lost in selfless service to others!!

. . . And this Saturday we find out if we have cambios, so well see. If I don't leave, I think for sure I'll be here for two more cambios because Elder Bello ends his mission in March. I like it here in Quior.

That's all for now. Praying for you.
Elder Jones

(P.S. really miss salads haha)

Elder HJones: Service = Growth

So this past week we had a zone training and we talked about the Holy Ghost and the important role that He plays in missionary work. We also talked about the people that we teach, that we should focus on them more then ourselves. We are here to teach them and through service we grow more and become better servants of God.

One thing that was said during the training really reflects the power of service. "When we work and help others, and focus more on them and not in ourselves, the attributes and characteristics of Christ come into our lives with more power and strength."

And it's true. When we focus on others, we grow.

This past week was a little better then the last one. Our district improved a little and overall it was a little better. I went to the area where the sisters have been struggling and worked a little more with them. They did a little better this week and now have some people that are progressing a little.

Yesterday five people came to church with us. Four of them are planning on getting baptized this weekend!! Please pray that everything will work out for them. Their names are Byron, Brandon, Tati, and Jacob. Last week we went to their house to talk to them. We entered (for the first time) and we were able to talk with their parents. In the beginning, the mom didn't want to give permission. She said that her kids already have been baptized when they were babies. As we started to explain a little more, she started to understand. Then she got really excited that her kids can get baptized like Jesus Chirst. Ella dijo, "El verdadero bautismo." Milagros!! 

 And next week we are planning on baptizing another one. His name is Francisco. He is really awesome. And we have a couple more people that can get baptized this month. Nicol and Francisca need permission from their parents and Rody needs to come to church. He is ready to hear the gospel. He was prepared from God! So we are working a lot with them and doing our best to help them progress to eventually get baptizing this month!

My companion is doing really well. He is improving a lot. He is getting more confident with himself. It is awesome to see the progress that he is making. His Spanish is improving a lot as well. 

The food here is good. A lot of chicken and rice. Like, A LOT of it. And I do have to say that now I like mayo. I guess I have just gotten used to it because Chileanos put it on everything!

So everything is going well here.  We are praying with faith that we can baptize four of our friends this weekend. I know that this is the true church. The only true church. This is where we are happy.  

Les amo! Elder Jones

Elder EJones: Week Second in the MTC

Hola Everyone!

This week has been crazy. It was super fast!! We've learned so much in the language and in the gospel and it has helped me to grow a lot. We learned about keeping things simple while teaching and making it so that others can feel the Spirit. It's not about what we say to those were teaching, but how they feel the spirit while we teach them. Because we aren't the teachers. The Spirit is and are only acting as the mouthpiece for the Lord.

We were able to watch a devotional from Elder Bednar from a couple years ago where he taught about the Character of Christ. Throughout His whole ministry Christ didn't look inward at all. Even after he had fasted for forty days, after He went through the atonement, after He suffered for our sins, and after He died for us, He was always looking to comfort others and make sure others were okay. We can't always do it the way He did because we aren't perfect like He is, but as we strive to be more like Christ, we should strive to love like Christ would--to love our enemies and to focus on the needs of others rather than our needs.

As we learn to help others, we learn to help ourselves, and while we may be struggling in our own lives, as we look outward to others, we will find joy and through Christ we can lift our own spirits.

I know the Lord will bless us only when we are doing all we can to hearken to His counsel; and when we put in all our work and effort, first. I've been able to feel His love for me this week and I know He wants the best from us --- it's our choice if we want to accept His blessings by living worthy.

Love you all,
Elder Jones

Elder ZJones: Hard Things Makes Us Great

I have learned so much throughout my mission. With investigators and just generally in our lives, Satan is trying to get us!! I see this constantly with investigators when we start to teach and they are feeling the Spirit and coming to church, the adversary works even harder on them. They, as well as us, start to experience harder things, whatever it may be: with our job, our family, our friends, and our actions. I thought of the scriptures and the many times it has happened:

Nephi: He continues to be bothered and bullied by his older brothers for being obedient.

Job: He loses everything, family, home, wealth and still stays true to the Lord.

Captain Moroni: Many times, the Nephites forget the Lord. The Lamanites continue to attack and kill his people.

Jesus Christ: Everything He did, all the good He did, people found ways to criticize Him. He was tempted by Satan, killed by His own people, and is still rejected today

Everyone experiences these things. When we choose the right and are following the Lord and Satan tries harder and harder to catch us and take us as far away as possible from Him. But we have to have faith and hope. We need to rely on the Lord daily and frequently so that when the adversary comes, we are ready.

One family we are teaching, the Escobar Family are struggling right now with work, their home, getting married, and doubts. Please pray for them that they may have hope and feel of His love so that they can turn to the Lord for Help.

Thanks for everything! Have a great week and find someone to serve.

Elder CJones: Escuela Para Padres

"Jones, you're officially a dad now." -Elder Dangerfield

Every week we, as missionaries, have the chance to help the government here with a class for all adults that want to learn how to be better parents. It's called Escuela para Padres, or Dad School. This week was the last lesson and graduation for everyone that attended. Because of the help we give every week we got a card to say thank you, thus I attended a school to be a better dad, and so I am an official dad!

I love the work here. This week five people to come to church with us. One lady will be baptized next week. She has a huge desire to change. She came looking for our church on her own. Her name is Flor. Another family, the Mendoza family, came to church and they loved it! One of the daughters is a very strong Christian and doesn't really want to change. Please pray for her so she can feel the truth and that she will want to search for the truth on her own.

I know for certain that our Heavenly Father knows each of us personally and he wants the best for us. Siguen en la verdad y van a recibir bastantes bendiciones!

--
Les quiero mucho!!
Elder Corom Jones