Week 87

Hey guys! This week was probably one of the best weeks of my mission. We just saw so many miracles this week! On monday the bishop and his family invited us to a family home evening in the house of some friends of theirs. The family`s name is the Ramirez family. Johan and Erica have a 13 year old son, that we don`t know yet, because he`s on a trip to england, an 8 year old daughter, and a 6 year old daughter. They really enjoyed the family home evening with the bishop`s family, and we made an appointment to visit them again on thursday with the bishop and his wife, and they understood the lesson really well. We taught them again on saturday morning. There was a young men`s car wash to raise money for their camping trip. They brought their car and we taught them with the stake president and his wife in the church while their car was being washed. They came to church yesterday for the 3 hours and they really enjoyed it. The members did a good job of making them feel welcomed. They have already felt an answer to their prayers and they want to continue learning. They have a baptismal goal for the 27th of feburary. I love teaching with Bishop Ampudia. He`s such a good teacher and I`ve learned so much this week about how to become an effective teacher. Something that I`ve been trying to get better at this week is listening intently to the responses that people give after asking them a question so I can ask a follow up question based on what they have said that will allow them to think deeply about what it is we are talking about. I feel like I`ve been getting better at that and I think that my investigators can tell that I`m really listening to them and I care about what they are saying.

Last monday we saw that we had a referral from Arizona. Her name is Iris Alva she`s about 50 years old and her sister is a member in the united states. She visited her sister and she attended a baptism. She spoke with the sister missionaries there and they gave her a book of mormon. Last week she was separated from her husband, but this week as we have been visiting her and teaching her she has been able to find peace and comfort, especially when she prays. She has been able to recognize the Holy Ghost`s presence stronger in her home, and she came to church with us yesterday and she really liked it! The also helped her feel welcome. She also has a baptismal date for the 27th.

   

Hernan is doing great! we had a lesson with him on friday with the Bishop and we`ve been able to find out that it`s hard for him to let go of some of his catholic traditions and beliefs, but he understands that he needs to ask God, and that`s all that matters. He came to church yesterday too and he has a baptismal goal for the 27th.

We`re teaching one of Elder Bates` dad`s converts and her son, Diego, who is not a member, is also listening to us and he wants to be baptized on the 27th. So he`s progressing really well. 

In the mornings this week we`ve been going to study with other companionships in the zone to help them have a good companionship study. They`ve been really great, and I`ve learned a lot form them. We had one with the secretaries and we practiced listening to investigators and asking follow up questions based on what they have said. 

After the zone meeting on wednesday we always have an hour together for language study, and we had Mario, who was baptized in september, come in and teach spanish to the north american missionaries. It was really funny, he taught us poetry and we practiced reciting it. It was awesome. This week I`m going to teach the spanish class, and as I`ve been studying spanish this week I`ve realized that I really really enjoy teaching spanish, and I feel like I`m good at noticing small details about spanish that most people don`t pick up on. I like learning about spanish grammar. And I think teaching spanish might be a good part time job for me when I get home, I read my patriarchal blessing this week, and it supports that idea. 

I hope you guys have a great week! Love you! 

Elder Jones 

Week 86

HEY GUYS so you´ll never guess where I got transfered to... I didn´t get transfered! Woo! I´m staying in Magdalena for 6 more weeks! I´ve been here since august! haha. But I´m actually really excited to stay here and be able to teach all the amazing people we´ve been teaching. There were a lot of changes in the zone, a lot of new missionaries, and things are looking better than they have before. I´m really happy. Elder Bates and I have been having some pretty fruitful companionship studies this week and we can tell that the lessons that we are teaching are more spiritual and our investigators are more engaged because we are teaching according to their needs. This week we had a leadership meeting for the mission and we talked alot about how to improve the companionship studies in the mission and relying more on the spirit. So we´ve been applying what we´ve talked about in these last few days to be able to train the zone about it on wednesday. We´re really excited about it.

We taught Hernan again this week, and he got to know the Bishop. He´s progressing really well and he´s understanding everything. We still haven´t been able to figure out what would possibly prevent him from progressing, which worries us because everyone always has some sort of challenge that comes out during the lessons that if left unresolved, prevents them from getting baptized. But he is completing with his committments and he´s really enjoying the church. We can tell that he trusts us more now than before, just by the way he talks to us.

 

We taught Jordy again this week and he also is understanding very well, but still not willing to dispose of a lot of time to continue progressing. His questions are excellent and he´s feeling something, so we´re confident that with time he´s going to start feeling the need to pursue the truth with more effort. 

So yea those were the highlights of the weeks. We spent a lot of time running around the zone interviewing people, giving keys to people that lost their keys, and helping people move. I´m glad that I have the opportunity to serve here in magdalena for a little more time, because every day I have the opportunity to minister and administer to the missionaries in my zone one by one.

I hope you guys have a great week! 

Elder Jones