Elder Jones week 67

HEY guys so sorry about writing so late, and I`m really going to have to write more next week because I don`t have a lot of time.  In the morning we came to write but there was an emergency with one of the young men in our ward and we had to go to the hospital, then Elder Anderson had some appointments with people from his old wards to visit them because he's gone tomorrow. 

But the highlights of this week which I will expound on next week are that Arantza and Mario got baptized!!! wooo!  They are soo happy.  Also, I got to visit Callao yesterday and all of Elder Anderson`s old sectors.  Tomorrow I`ll have a new companion.  I love it here.  I`m growing a lot.  I`m also figuring out how to learn from the spirit.  I hope you guys have a great week and sorry for not being able to write very much today.  I promise that next week I`ll be able to write more.  Love you guys! 

Elder Jones

Ps. Elder Anderson lives in American Fork. 20 minutes from BYU and he and his mom have offered to let me rent out a room with one of Elder Anderson`s other companions Elder Soria from Argentina. It would be a lot cheaper.  Just wondering what you guys think about it.  Love you.

Elder Jones week 66

Hey guys!! Glad to hear that everything is going great! Oh my gosh, Dan is so grown up now.  I can´t believe how much he´s grown while I´ve been on my mission. He did a great job too in the cross country meet! Congrats. 

We had a great week. Still working with the Ortiz family. Last Monday we had a family home evening with them and the Godoy family. Tonight we have another one with them and the Moscoso family. The ward is still working with us really well with the Ortiz family. Arantza is getting baptized this Saturday!! Her parents will soon follow, once they get their marriage figured out. This week we were teaching the Ortiz family about the Word of Wisdom and it was really hard for them at first because the mom really likes coffee, tea, and wine but two things really helped them out. 1: that we had Manuel Ramos there teaching with us.  He´s 18 and he´s preparing to serve a mission.  He was able to bear his testimony and he helped them out a lot. And 2: We reminded them of their testimonies of the Book of Mormon. Joseph Smith was a prophet because the Book of Mormon is true. And thus the Word of Wisdom is a commandment inspired of God. So they´re willing to keep the Word of Wisdom now. And to bury their weapons of war they got rid of their cabinet that was full of fancy alcohol bottles and glasses. 

Mario Gonzales will also get baptized this week! It´s kind of amazing how quickly this change has been brought to pass in him. We met him a little over 2 weeks ago and he´s a completely different person. He loves the Book of Mormon and church. We´re really happy for him and excited about the change that is going on in his life.   

This week I was on a companionship interchange with Elder Martinez and something he and his companion Elder Adams are doing is every time they see a father with his children they talk with him.  So we saw one who was about 23 years old and he went over to talk to him. He wasn´t actually a father, he was just playing with his older sister´s child.  Then then his younger sister who is 22 came running over saying that she´s Mormon too and that she moved here from another ward and stopped going to church when she moved. So we were able to teach her, her brother, her older sister with the 2 year old son, and their mother. They almost got baptized a while ago but just didn´t do it, but they´re really receptive and they want to get baptized now that a lot of things have changed in their lives. So we have another family that we are teaching! The Astete Family. 

So yea I´m still happy. I´m learning a lot. I participated in the mission council for the first time in my mission this week. That was fun. Well I hope you guys have another great week love you all!

Elder Jones Week 65

Hey guys! So I had a great week!!  We saw so many miracles.

So news about the Ortiz family that I told you guys about last week. They still want to get baptized as soon as possible AND also their daughter that lives in Utah.  Last Monday we visted them and they told us that they had just gotten off the phone with their daughter in Utah and it turns out that the exact same day that we started teaching the Ortiz family, their daughter started listening to the missionaries in Utah, and she attended church for the first time last week as well!  This entire week they´ve been Skyping their daughter in Utah to tell her what they´re learning from the lessons and she tells them what she´s learning. They´ve also been on mormon.org a lot this week, trying to learn everything they can about the church they´re about to join.  They´ve been going to all the church activities. They´re proactive with getting their marriage ready so we don´t even need to help them with that.  In short, they are becoming their own agents and they are learning by faith.  I can already see the change in them.  We visited them with Ernesto, a recent convert who is about 30 years old, married with a wife and a 2 year old son name EJ.  He´s really interested in their progress as well as every other member we see.  They always ask us how the Ortiz family is doing, and everyone wants to invite them over for family home evening.  Today they have a family home evening with the Godoy family.  We´re really excited for them.  Mario also went to church yesterday and he´s getting ready for his baptism the 26th. 

I´m really greatful for the opportunity that I have to be here in Magdalena, even though it´s different from every other area I´ve served in before on my mission.  I´m learning how to work more effectively and discovering new tools that weren´t available in other areas (for example easy access to mormon.org and strong member families).  I have  to rely a lot more on the Lord than on my own ability.  OH also Elder Tejada that was in Callao with me is going to be one of the mission secretaries so he`ll be in my ward now! 

I hope you guys have a great week!