Merry Christmas

This week has been super good! We have been super busy with service and with teaching opportunities! We have been working with an excommunicated member this week. We went over for service twice for him this week. We have been thinking about getting him back into the church and rebaptized. We talked to the bishop though and he's been excommunicated a couple times in the past. So he said it might be a process for him to actually come back but we're starting the fellowship and service and teaching process. I'm hoping that we can help him get back into following the commandments and such. 

We have been meeting with members more this week and this next week we are meeting with more members. It has been awesome meeting with members and getting to know them better. I've been getting to know the members a lot better and it's fun getting to know them. We are ushers in church and some of the old ladies in the ward told me that I was their favorite hahaha. That's good I guess. 

And I chipped a freaking tooth this week. I can't believe it. The second time as a missionary. I was eating some leftover texas roadhouse that we had. I was eating ribs and I bite down and I hit a tiny bone. Didn't think much of it. Then we were at a member's having dinner and I start feeling the tooth and think something is different with the tooth. I get home and I look and I saw that I fetching chipped a tooth. And it's the front tooth too. It's not too bad but ill have to go to the dentist hopefully this week or early next week and get it fixed. Idk how that happened cause I've never chipped any teeth in my life besides these past 3 months I've chipped two. Gotta be kidding me. 

I just get super excited when our lessons actually go through and we can actually teach them. There's a lot of people that I talk to on Facebook that don't care. They just flat out reject it and I'm like come on! This'll help you! But nope. But I make sure to let them know that they can always reach out. 

I just want to be the best missionary I can be. I am doing my best to learn and grow and teach. I just can't wait to be in Panama. I enjoy being here and getting to know the members and the people here. It has really has been awesome but I'm anxious to get to Panama.

We did have zone conference this week and it was really good. I enjoyed the counsel that we received from President Monson and it was awesome. It was a little tiring and long but it turned out awesome. We did get counsel on what to do better as a zone and I want to be accountable and obedient to his counsel as he is presiding over the mission. But he told us to focus more on members than on Facebook finding. He said that we should have at least 1 member lesson a day and put them before Facebook. So that's one thing that I thought was super important because we have been doing it the other way. 

But I'm doing well and enjoying the mission a lot! I am super tired all of the time but loving the work! 

Love you tons!

MERRY CHRISTMAS 

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 EJones: Lots Have Happened!

Well lots has happened this week. It's been quite the week, but it has been a good one. Here are some of the things that happened:

1. [Another] New Companion
My companion Elder Lage went home on Tuesday. He got permission because his dad is really sick, and there is nobody else to care for him. The church in Brazil offered help, but his girlfriend doesn't want anything to do with the church, so that's that. He was happy to go back to his dad, but at the same time didn't want to leave. So on Tuesday I was in a trio with the zone leaders until Thursday when they were able to find me a mini missionary. A mini companion is basically a member that can be my comp for a few days. His name is Elder Tarraga. He will leave on his mission in January to The Buenos Aires North mission, so it's been cool to have him as a comp. He lives in our stake here and we get along really well.

2. Zone Conference
This week we had zone conference with Elder Held from The Seventy. He talked about lots of things that really stood out to me. One thing that I loved was that he compared us to lumberjacks. We are here to cut down trees (or to do missionary work). And we are given the tools necessary to complete the work. We have a saw and a whetstone to sharpen the saw. Those instruments in the mission are the Book of Mormon and the Holy Ghost. But what we need to do is know how to use them. If we work hard but don't sharpen the saw we have, we won't find lots of success. Our purpose is to use the tools the Lord has given to us, the scriptures, prayer, our testimonies to help others come unto Christ. He also referred to his talk in General conference of the need to look at things with a spiritual vision so that we can see the full picture. He is super cool.

3. Stake Conference
This week we also had stake conference which was amazing. We were able to hear from President Stanford and his wife and our stake leaders. One of the things that I loved that Presidente Stanford talked about was when he was called to be a mission presidente. Lots of people asked how he could leave his family, home, and all he knew to go. And he would say its because he made a covenant with the Lord to give all that he had to Him, not just part. As disciples of Christ we need to be willing to give our all to Him. Another youth talked about four things we can do to become better disciples of Jesus Christ.

-Pray to God with real intent and with real faith
-Studying the scriptures, especially the Book of Mormon
-Be humble before God
-Learn to recognize, trust and follow the promptings of the Holy Ghost

I know that the path of discipleship isn't hard. It wasn't easy for the first apostles of Jesus Christ, who gave their lives for His cause. And it isn't easy for us. But it is always worth it. I know that Christ lives and loves us. He knows the plan. If we learn to follow Him, we will find true happiness in our lives!!

Love you lots.

Elder ZJones: Christlike Attributes

It has started to get cold at night and in the morning, but during the day it is hot! It's the change from Fall to Winter.

We started working in an area where we never worked before and we found a family that I taught in Jardines! They are helping us teach their neighbors. Abril, one of their neighbors, will be getting baptized this weekend. We will be helping her other two siblings to get baptized next week!! Please pray for them that they will continue to have this desire and that all will go well. We worked hard and 6 people came to church with us this Sunday! We also found a family that wants to learn more. It is the Saldaña family. It is a single mom and she has a ton of kids. We talked with 5 of them and they all want to come to church! We will be helping them so that they can come with us this Sunday to church. Pray for us that we will be able to commit them well so that they will feel and know that they should go to church!!!

We had zone conference this past week.

One thing that I loved was when Presidente Resek explained why Christlike attributes are so important. He explained that it is how we receive exaltation. As we become more like Jesus Christ and learn to live as He did, we will receive exaltation and receive a place in God's Kingdom!! I know it is true. I will be studying better Christlike attributes. I will be sharing the things that I learn with you. This week I will be studying paciencia!!

Elder ZJones: Something I Learned This Week

This week during Zone Conference was to have a better relationship with my Father in Heaven. A better relationship will allow Him to have His complete confidence in me. Elder Rivera shared a phrase with me that Pte Resek shared with him which is, "Hay mas poder sin poder!"(There is more power without "Can!")

I love it! I have been trying hard to not use CAN in my prayers, but when I ask for God´s help, I try to use the word WILL. If I have the faith that it WILL happen, the Lord will make it happen. I know that the faith that we have is a big sign to our Father in Heaven that we know He has all power and that through him, all things are possible!

This week was great! and tough like always, right? My companion is awesome and we are working hard! But we haven't seen the results that we have wanted. We sacrificed all our time last week to find people to teach. We even worked on Thursday, our P-day, so that we can find more people. And the Lord did bless us! As we were contacting we found a Bolivian family! They have a desire to learn more and want to go to church. The mom left for Capital so in the end they didn't come to church. It is the Montabe Family. Please pray for them that they will progress, that we will find them during the week, and that they will pray and feel that they should be baptized. We also found another family. The mom is named Adela. She has a couple kids and lives with her mom and sister, I believe. They are from Peru and have been to church before. They really want to come to church, but many times Adela works on Sundays. Pray that she will get Sunday off this next week so that they can come to church with us next Sunday!

Baptism. Brains Wests mom was baptized on saturday! It was an awesome blessing! She was super excited and Brian baptized her as well! I am glad that this gosple is changing her family and helping them see his hand in there lives!

The most difficult part of the week was that nobody new that we found came to church! My companion and I were both bummed. We worked hard during the week and looked for everyone Sunday morning. We complained for five minutes, haha,  then put it aside and worked again. We will be working harder this week so that we will have His help!

Other than that it was a great week! Another week to serve Him is all that I want! And I know that He has blessings for His children through us.

Have a great week!

Elder Jones

Elder ZJones: This Week

This week was good, but hard.

We didn't have much to work with so we decided to try and find a lot of new people that we could teach. We put the goal at 50 and found 38 new people to teach! Many of them have a desire to learn more. But the harder part is as we passed by them during the end of the week to commit them again to go to church, we didn't find anyone home! Or they didn't want anything! It was tough because we didn't get people to church like we wanted to. So we have another week where we have to find new people and plan well so that we can find those who are ready.

My companion has three weeks left in the mission and wants to give it his all. We put our goals really high this week so that we can find baptisms for the last day in his mission. Please pray for us that we will have the spirit with us and that we will be diligent all week.

My birthday was good. We actually had Zone Conference on my birthday. So I got to learn and listen to the AP's, Presidente y Hna. Resek speak to us. It was a good present! haha And I got a bag of candy from Hna. Resek!

This week Naomi went to the temple. Brian had to work but went on visits with us yesterday. His mom will be getting baptized this Saturday! I haven't bought a camera, yet. My comp said that he will give me his when he leaves! haha maybe three times with a camera is the charm!

Love you,
Elder Jones

Elder HJones: Zone Conference

So this past week we had a bunch a meetings. On Tuesday, my companion and I traveled to Antofagasta. Then, on Thursday our zone traveled to Copiapo to have a zone conference. So a lot of traveling and meetings, but a lot of things learned and the Spirit was definitely felt. My love for my mission president has grown so much! He teaches with so much power and love.

One thing that he said during the conference that I liked was, "The miracles in the Book of Mormon occur today, in the Mission Chile Antofagasta." And this can apply to everywhere and everyone. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. The miracles that happened in the Book of Mormon can still happen today. It's based on our faith. If we want them and work for them, they will come. I have a testimony that it is true.

Everything is good here. . .aside all the ants in the house. It's crazy how fast they find food in the house. And it's only worse because there are six of us living in the same pension. But I guess that's normal. Ants are annoying, but normal.

Elder ZJones: A New Year

This week we saw some miracles.

It was raining on Sunday when we went looking for people to join with us for sacrament meeting. And, we came up empty handed, but..............

La Familia Guzman came to church all by themselves--in the rain!! They surprise me everyday. They know that this gospel is true and want to be baptized, but think they think that the process is fast. They want to wait for months (or years) until they understand everything. I explained to them that when I was baptized I was 8, and I didn't understand much. All I knew was that Joseph Smith was a prophet and that baptism was something good. It is when we receive the Holy Ghost we will have a guide that will help us to learn in the months and years ahead.

Pray for them: Santyos and Graciela. They are reading, praying and even started "Come, Follow Me!"

Milagros is 19. Her parents are active members. He is our ward mission leader. She doesn't have much interest. We invited her to pray and read. She did, came to church, and told us that she cried when she did it. We have a FHE today with the family. Pray for her. Milagros Boudino.

Lastly, Carlitos Gonzales. We thought he was a member until the sisters told us no. We stopped by yesterday. His brothers come to church and want to baptized him. We have to have permission for there dad. Pray that he will open his heart!

That's about it. We had consejo de lideres and have zone conference this week. Pray that we will know what our zone needs to hear!

Elder EJones: Conferencia de Navidad

This week we had our Christmas conference with President Rodriguez and his wife. Presidente talked about the importance of having faith in Jesus Christ. To have faith in Him as the Son of God, to have faith that God is our Heavenly Father, and to have faith in the Atonement of Jesus Christ. We can't have faith if were not willing to act. Not willing to change to become more like Jesus Christ.

And what better time do we have then to come unto Jesus Christ now? The Spirit of Christmas isn't in the snow, it's not in the traditions, the food, or the music. The Spirit of Christmas is in Jesus Christ, the Son of God. He is the gift the Lord gave us. I know that as we give as he gave, we will find joy in Christ. Joy in his birth, and in the restored Gospel.

In Spanglish....Christmas....CHRIST-mas (more Christ).

Elder HJones: MILAGROS!!!

Everything is going super well here in Chile. It is burning hot [because it is going into summer], but we are still working really hard.

This week was AWESOME! We saw miracles and God blessed us a ton.

So to make a long story short, we baptized SEVEN people yesterday!! It was super awesome! We baptized an entire family and it was really cool to see. It was the grandma, the mom, and five children. One thing that  have learned during my mission is that we can never give up on people.

We knocked on their door a while ago. The grandma was really awesome. But when we past by their house again, they didn't progress a lot because they could never find time to listen to us. So we stopped passing by. And that is what I have learned in the mission, we can't give up on people. It's not going to be easy, but we can't throw in the towel so quickly.

So a couple weeks later we were talking to some kids in the street. They were playing soccer so we started to talk with them. well, we meet up with one of the kids that lived in the house. He was really receptive and in my mind (I'm sure it was the Spirit telling me), I knew that he and his family were going to accept the gospel. Something told me that God was calling the people that lived in that house.

So we started passing by again and they were all so receptive. They listened. They asked questions. They felt the Spirit. And they all came to church and all of them wanted to get baptized. They were definitely prepared! So yesterday, seven of God children entered in the water of baptism!! Silvia, Erika, Bayron, Brandon, Jacob, Tati, and Gregory! Miracles!

We have a couple more friends progressing as well. Two girls that always come to church with a member: Nicil and Francisca. They are always in the church during activities and such. They want to get baptized but we need permission from their parents. Nicil and Francisca work a lot so it's really hard to find them. And we are also going to focus on a young adult named Rody this week. Another friend of a member. He is really awesome. He is about 24 years old and really receptive. Please pray that he can feel the Spirit and that he can show his faith by coming to church. He works on Sundays, but his boss is a member. So she is willing to give him work off, but he needs to ask and show that he wants to do it. 

And tomorrow we have a conference with Presidente. Three zones are meeting with Presidente. I am always excited to have zone conferences with him because the Spirit is so strong. Today we played soccer with Presidente. And when we were starting, he told me that tomorrow at the conference, I have to talk in front of everyone and tell them what we did to baptize the seven people this weekend. So that's gonna be fun...

And this week we have cambios! I am not sure what will happen. I feel like I am going to stay in Copiapo. My companion has quite a bit of time here, so I think that he is going to leave, but I am not sure. But I am pretty sure that I will stay and end up having more then a year here in Copiapo! yeah!

So that was my week. Full of miracles and blessings from God. I am so happy to be a missionary and to be a instrument on God's hands!

Something crazy about Chile (and I think South America in general) is that everyone drinks soda. With every meal it's soda. So the members are always giving us soda to drink. When I was in Arica it was more juice, but here in Copiapo, pure soda pop. I am getting fat. haha just kidding

It's weird that Christmas is just around the corner. People are already putting up decorations, which is weird, because there is no snow and it's not cold.

But everything is good here. I LOVE being a missionary. I think I am just gonna live here, so don't expect me to come home. haha

Love, Elder Jones

Elder ZJones: Doctrine of Christ

We had Zone Conference this past week! We talked about the importance for us to apply the Doctrine Of Christ in our lives before we share it with others. The Doctrine of Christ is:

Faith in Jesus Christ

Repentance

Baptism By Immersion for the Remission of Sins

Laying on of Hands For the Gift of The Holy Ghost and

Enduring to the End

We need to set goals and make sure that we are progressing in these things and that we know the ways that we can become better. There is no perfect member or degree that we can learn. We should continue to grow in wisdom and to be more like Christ!

Yesterday, we had a baptism for Sara and Cielo and will be planning on confirming them on Sunday. Pray for them and Jeremias that he will be baptized next week as well! Have a great week!

Elder Jones

Elder HJones: Conferencia de Zona

Things are really good here in Copiapo. I am learning a lot and growing a lot.

This past week we baptized a girl named Pia. The week before we baptized her little sister, and this week was her turn. It was kinda a miracle. In the beginning, she didn't want anything to do with the Church, then after she went to Church, she wanted to get baptized. When we taught her on Sunday the commandments, she didn't agree with the law of chastity. So the next day, we taught her better. We explained it a little more and explained the blessings that come when we live it and she accepted to live it. It was way awesome! The Spirit is the teacher! So she was baptized this past Sunday!

My area is good. This week we have to focus a lot on getting people to church and finding new people. Its something that we don't have much of right now. So we are going to improve a lot on that this week- to find more people to teach, and to get people to attend church with us.

We are teaching a family right now and they are cool. A single mom with her 3 kids. They were going to come to church but they didn't. But please pray for her. Claudia and her family!

My companion is good, too. He is improving a lot! His Spanish isn't that good, so he doesn't really like to talk that much. He is a little bit nervous and scared when he talks. But I understand that, that was exactly how I felt when I started. So I am trying to help him open up a little more so he can have more confidence in himself. We get along really well and we are having a lot of success!

The weather changed a lot. Now it's super hot!! Super, super hot. During the day the sun is so strong. All the people here think that I am Latino. Everyone thinks I am from Argentina because my skin is darker. It's pretty funny. And at night it changes. Sometimes it's warm, but sometimes it's cold.

So, this past week we had zone conference with our mission president. It was really awesome. We talked a lot about the things that we learned from Elder Christofferson and the changes that we are making in the mission to have more success. We talked about the many blessings that Elder Chrisofferson gave to our mission, if we are obedient and faithful.

One thing that Elder Christofferson said was that we have the "right and power" to teach in the name of Jesus Christ. And he also told us that we are on the right path. The way that we are working as a mission is the correct one. And if people don't support us "no importa" (or, it doesn't matter), keep doing it!

And I am super excited for General Conference. After hearing the words and power from Elder Christofferson, I am super ready for General Confernce. And yes, we will be able to hear all the sessions. And in English too!! VAMOS!! I am super excited for the opportunity that every single one of us have to listen to the words of the living prophets and apostles during General Conference. I know that they are servants called of God. Listen to their words and teachings. The things that they say are the things that God wants us to hear! 

Que tengan una buena semana!!

Elder Jones

Elder ZJones: The Blessings of the Atonement of Jesus Christ

Con Pte. Resek

I feel like every topic that I share, it is very similar to that of Hyrum's every week! haha

This week we had interviews with President Resek. I love interviews. It is a time that we are able to talk about the mission, our lives, and our invesigators. It is a time I really feel the love Presidente Resek has for each and every missionary.

During the interview we talked about one of our investigators. I asked for help on how we can help them progress. With time during the interview he said that everyone here needs the atonement, and that we need to share with them the importance of the atonement. He said "Don´t go a day on the mission without teaching about the Atonement!"

Conferencia de Zona

I thought about it and it is something that has stuck with me since. Jesus Christ and His suffering and His gift of eternal life needs to be the base of everything we teach. All of us use it everyday and every week.

A way that we can show our love and the importance of the Atonement to us personally is to share about it with others and share how it has helped us personally and in our lives. I know that as we help others, everyday, know the importance of the Atonement and Jesus Christ and help them apply those things in their lives and in their families, it will bless their lives and the Lord will see that the Atonement is of importance to us and will then bless us!

Have a great week!
Love, Elder Jones

Elder Shepard trying to impersonate me

Elder ZJones: Zone Conference This Week

We had many miracles this week. Veronica and Adrian got married!! Veronica was then baptized. It was such an awesome experience to see how much it affected them and their family. Her parents then invited us to stop by and teach them. We are hoping to help them to receive the joy of baptism and this gospel. Luana also finally got baptized this week. The Lord really helped us this week to prepare them to be baptized and now there are many more ready to receive the gospel this month.

We had zone conference and talked about characteristics of baptizers and the ways we can be better at inviting and teaching to baptize. Elder Marquez and I have started applying these things to help us more in our area. We have seen the Lord help us more and more in our area.

Have a great week and love you all!!
Elder Jones

Elder ZJones: Baptisms

Ready for Zone Conference

We had Zone Conference this past week. The topic was (drum roll please).............Baptisms! Baptisms! Baptisms! Baptisms! Presidente Resek and the AP's talked with us about this year's mission goal to baptize 3840 converts, which is 48 baptisms per missionary for the year, four baptisms per month.! Presidente Resek explained the ways that we can prepare people for baptism and find people in our area who are ready for baptism.

I finished the Book of Mormon this past week (of course, in English!) and I can tell you that I know it is true. I enjoy my personal study a lot because it gives me this opportunity to read. And my testimony has  grown. I learned so many things that I didn't know before and things that have helped me in the mission. It is such a blessing in my life that I have this book to read, ponder, and pray. I know that it is true. It testifies of Jesus Christ from cover to cover and we can know His plan for us as we read. I'm so grateful I had family scriptures in the mornings growing up because they do help the day start out right!

I teach about the Book of Mormon everyday and have the opportunity to share its message with others. The words are truly written for us in our day and can help everyone of God's children on the earth today. I invite all of you to follow the counsel of President Monson and read the Book of Mormon everyday. I know we will receive many blessing and the help in our lives as we do.

Hoping our investigator answers . . .

My and my companion are preparing for a baptism this week. His name is Cristian and has so much love for this gospel. He was a reference from a member from a different area.  He is 16 and such an awesome kid. We have been teaching him for two weeks and I have already seen his faith and testimony grow so much. He gets involved and goes to mutual and activities. He is going with the youth this Saturday to go and see the temple, which will be an awesome experience for him. We have taught him the lessons and there were some things that he had to change in his life. He accepted our commitments and has made goals. He reads everyday and loves the Book of Mormon. Cristian is such an awesome kid!!

I just want to share that you can be missionaries as well. You can share the gospel, the Book of Mormon, and your testimony with those you feel are ready and need your message. I encourage you to find those who want the gospel but just don't know that they want it!

Have a great week! Praying for all of you and grateful for your prayers as well!

Ice Cream on P-Day!!

Elder HJones: Walk With Faith

This week was pretty wild.

Presidente Ferreira came to our area and we had zone conference. It was really good, except I really didn't understand much (haha). We also had interviews with the President. It went really well. I really felt the love that he has for me and he really encouraged me to lose myself in the work.

We also had an earthquake...which isn't too exciting because I am in Chile because apparently, here in Chile, we get a lot of them. It was in the middle of the night and I had just woken up and everything was shaking. It wasn't that bad. Lasted about 30 seconds. The scary part is that I sleep on a bunk bed made to hold an 8 year old, so it was shaking like crazy!

I was also able to play soccer with some kids during the week. It was really fun. But all the kids told me that I needed to practice more because I am terrible.

We eat a lot. We have a momita who cooks for us for part of the week. Members feed us the other days of the week. We also walk a lot. A lot of people have cars in Arica, but most people walk around, which is nice because we can talk with people. Arica also has a lot of taxis and buses. So sometimes, when we have to travel a little ways (like on Pday), we take a taxi.

This week I really learned about faith. It was kinda a tough week. I felt like I worked really hard, and there wasn't much to show for it. And whenever we made appointments with people, they never happened. It was hard to really teach people this past week. But it really helped me learn about faith. Sometimes I don't see the end results, but  I know God always does. I don't always understand why things don't work the way I want them to, but God does. And I know that having faith is really important because through faith we can do all things.

A lot of people yell at us and try to convince us that we are wrong. But I know that the Gospel is true. I know that Jesus Christ lives and atoned for me and for you. And no matter how many people try to tell me otherwise, I have a testimony. And I am so grateful that I can represent Jesus Christ and help bring people to Him.

Love, Elder Jones

Elder CJones: Zona Valle Hermoso