Hey guys! This week was the best. We finished teaching everything that Rafael needs to get prepared for his baptism on Wednesday. He had his interview yesterday, and he´s all set for his baptism! The only thing is that transfers are tomorrow and I´ve got 6 months here in Rímac, but the thing is that the zone leaders have been saying for a while now that Elder Price is going to move up this transfer as zone leader, and I´m almost positive that´s going to happen too, so I think I´m staying in Rímac for 2 more months! This transfer is 8 weeks long because our new mission president is coming in 2 weeks. Also there is a new address of the mission offices if you want to send letters-- it´s:
Misión Perú Lima Central
Av. Juan de Aliaga 520
Magdalena del Mar, Lima
Lima 17, Peru
So it turns out that on Wednesday we´re actually going to have 2 baptisms because the missionaries in the ward next to us have been teaching someone that lives in our ward boundaries, and now that he´s about to get baptized they just recently realized that he lives in our ward. His name is Luis and he´s about 60 years old. I´ve taught him before in the church building when I was on a companion exchange with the Elders in Leoncio Prado. Tomorrow we have an appointment with him with the 4 missionaries to do the handoff. We called him last night and he said he wants to get baptized as soon as possible. So he´s going to get baptized on Wednesday.
There isn´t going to be church on Sunday because of the dedication of the temple of Trujillo. We are going to be able to go to the stake centers and see the temple dedication broadcasted. But only those that have a temple recommend or a voucher from the bishop. It´s going to be interesting, because the stake centers are going to be converted into temples for a short period of time. We can go with all our recent converts and reactivated members, and the good news is that we´re going to reactivate 7 people this week. So as long as everything goes as planned, and I don´t get transferred to a different ward, this will be the most productive week of my mission.
Last week we met an eight year old in the street named Juan Carlos. He seemed really happy to see us so we assumed he was a member, but he wasn´t. We invited him to come to the church on Sunday with his family. He actually came! alone! When we arrived at church he was just sitting there by himself looking really content, and he stayed for the 3 hours. Later we visited his family and they´re actually a really great family. Two parents (that are married!), two sons, and the sister of the mother lives there too. We taught them all and it turns out that the father was baptized when he was 8 but never came back to church. The mother was going to get baptized a few years ago but they moved and lost contact with the missionaries. They´re a really great family and I can tell that they´re going to progress.
Everything is working out really well with Leeloo, she wants to get baptized now, but she has to wait until the 28th, so she can have enough church attendances. We´ve also got a few baptisms lined up for July. We started teaching Yolanda this week. She´s been to church a couple of times already, but we haven´t had the opportunity to teach her unitl this week. She´s good friends with a really strong family of returned missionaries in our ward, and when we teach her with them the lessons are much more powerful. She wants to get baptized, but she still has a lot of obstacles in her life. Her member friends are willing to help her in every way possible to get prepared for baptism. She has a goal to be ready for baptism by July 11th.
I hope everything goes well for you guys this week. Love you guys!
Elder Jones
Monday, June 15, 2015
Hermana Jones week 63
So this week was super good! I had lots of exchanges this week, so I was only in my area three days this week working but everything is going super well in the areas of the hermanas. I love working with them so much because I get to see so many people being taught the gospel and the different stages of learning they are in!
My favorite was to go teach with hermana Galicia becuase they have a family of ten they are teaching right now! And they all went to church this week. It made me so happy. I can really see the hand of the Lord in my life.
This week we also found a miracle. We met a man named Jesus, and he has been to church a lot, but he was always too busy at work to listen to the missionaries but he had an accident at work and hurt his arm, so now he is always home because he can't work any more doing heavy machinery. So we have been visiting him for a couple weeks and because he is hurt we can visit him every day. The secret blessings from God, aaaaand he is getting baptized this week! yay!
Also we were working all this week to get the papers done for Viviana and Eric and the Moctesuma family, so they can get married and we finally finished. The elders in our ward also finished getting the papers ready for their family, so we are going to have our big wedding on Saturday and then all of them are getting baptized on Sunday. It makes me really happy to see the difference in all of them since we started teaching them. The Moctesuma family makes me laugh because it reminds me of when we were little and crazy. The only thing is they have 7 kids instead of 5. Their mom loves it when we come because I play dead donkey with them. I always wondered why you guys loved that game so much when we were little but I realized finally that it was so we would stop running around and be quiet. Its funny though because now every time we come they want to play dead donkey which is fine with us. It is just funny to teach lessons now because now instead of running around and fighting, all the little kids are laying on the ground with their arms and legs up in the air hahah.
Also we went and worked with our ward mission leader and his wife on Saturday and they are amazing! They are both return missionaries and so they taught with us really well. Hermana Viviana was a little afraid to tell her family that she was getting baptized, but when we were there her family came and visited halfway through the lesson! so we taught them and they all went to church on Sunday!
Also we finally got the Liahona this week, so we could read all the conference talks. I loved conference this time there are so many good talks to share with our investigators. Anyway I hope everything is going great all of you are in my prayers and I am glad the move went smoothly. Weird that I am going to have to start telling everyone that I am from Indiana now and not from Chicago haha! I was reading about the new 70 at the back of the Liahona and it was the same 70 who came for stake conference last week(Elder Montoya) in his biography it says he was nervous to become a 70 but the profeta Monson said "you are here because you love the Lord" I liked that a lot to think about any place we are in life. Am I here because I love the Lord?
Also they are finally going to open the temple here but it is going to be in September! The month after I leave and they are going to have a ton of people in the stake I am in right now dance. Looks like I will just have to come back to mexico to see it Hahaha. Anyway I hope you have a great week!
Love,
Hermana Jones
My favorite was to go teach with hermana Galicia becuase they have a family of ten they are teaching right now! And they all went to church this week. It made me so happy. I can really see the hand of the Lord in my life.
This week we also found a miracle. We met a man named Jesus, and he has been to church a lot, but he was always too busy at work to listen to the missionaries but he had an accident at work and hurt his arm, so now he is always home because he can't work any more doing heavy machinery. So we have been visiting him for a couple weeks and because he is hurt we can visit him every day. The secret blessings from God, aaaaand he is getting baptized this week! yay!
Also we were working all this week to get the papers done for Viviana and Eric and the Moctesuma family, so they can get married and we finally finished. The elders in our ward also finished getting the papers ready for their family, so we are going to have our big wedding on Saturday and then all of them are getting baptized on Sunday. It makes me really happy to see the difference in all of them since we started teaching them. The Moctesuma family makes me laugh because it reminds me of when we were little and crazy. The only thing is they have 7 kids instead of 5. Their mom loves it when we come because I play dead donkey with them. I always wondered why you guys loved that game so much when we were little but I realized finally that it was so we would stop running around and be quiet. Its funny though because now every time we come they want to play dead donkey which is fine with us. It is just funny to teach lessons now because now instead of running around and fighting, all the little kids are laying on the ground with their arms and legs up in the air hahah.
Also we went and worked with our ward mission leader and his wife on Saturday and they are amazing! They are both return missionaries and so they taught with us really well. Hermana Viviana was a little afraid to tell her family that she was getting baptized, but when we were there her family came and visited halfway through the lesson! so we taught them and they all went to church on Sunday!
Also we finally got the Liahona this week, so we could read all the conference talks. I loved conference this time there are so many good talks to share with our investigators. Anyway I hope everything is going great all of you are in my prayers and I am glad the move went smoothly. Weird that I am going to have to start telling everyone that I am from Indiana now and not from Chicago haha! I was reading about the new 70 at the back of the Liahona and it was the same 70 who came for stake conference last week(Elder Montoya) in his biography it says he was nervous to become a 70 but the profeta Monson said "you are here because you love the Lord" I liked that a lot to think about any place we are in life. Am I here because I love the Lord?
Also they are finally going to open the temple here but it is going to be in September! The month after I leave and they are going to have a ton of people in the stake I am in right now dance. Looks like I will just have to come back to mexico to see it Hahaha. Anyway I hope you have a great week!
Love,
Hermana Jones
Tyler Jones - Eagle Scout
Congratulations to Tyler on earning his Eagle Scout award. Way to go Tyler!
Monday, June 8, 2015
Hermana Jones week 62
Wow, I cannot believe that you guys are moving this week! It seems a little unreal to me. It was funny, though, because I told a family in the ward that you guys were moving to Indiana. It was funny because they said all that moving only to end up in the same place that you started! hahaha I got a pretty good laugh out of that.
This week was super fun but a little hectic. We have 7 people who are getting baptized on June 21, so I hope you guys can pray for all of them. The first couple is Viviana and Eric. They are amazing-- we gave them a pamphlet in the street and said we could visit when we got their we asked if they had their pamphlet. They looked down and didn't answer so we thought they had thrown it away but then they brought us into their room and they had cut out all the pictures of Jesus from the pamphlet and taped it up on their wall. They were also at the point of having an abortion when we met them because they didn't even have enough money to feed themselves and they didn't want to bring a baby into the world only to starve, but we promised them that God would help them provide for their family and hermano Eric got a job!
Also we have the Moctesuma family, which is the family from the picture I sent you who have 7 kids. Their oldest daughter, Jessica, said she wants to be a missionary!
Then we have Fabian and Marilu who are referrals from a member and they are the best. I love teaching them because every time we ask how they feel, they say that they feel like they found something that they have been looking for for a long time. The reason this week has been stressful is because none of them are married! So we have been getting the papers ready and getting the wedding ready for three couples! Here in Mexico a lot of people don't ever get married because there is a lot of paper work and in some places it costs a lot of money so they don't have the ability to pay to get married.
Anyway, another funny thing that happened this week is that we had stake conference, which I will talk about in a moment, but the elders in our ward were going to have a baptism, so they started to fill the font, which usually takes about 2 and a half hours. The four of us went with the members who were going to feed us and we ate for an hour so it would be plenty of time to come back, so we ate and at the end I looked at my phone and there were tons of missed calls from members of the church and missionaries in our zone. Our phones were on silent because we were in stake conference before. So I called, and everyone was in panic. The font was overflowing and filling the whole chapel. So we ran back to open the door to the font because only the elders have the keys and spent a lot of time cleaning the church hahaha so sadly there were a lot of witnesses because it was stake conference so all the stake leaders and all the missionaries in our zone are laughing about how the zone leaders and sister training leaders flooded the whole church..... The stake conference was really good though because one of the 70s came in.
I am super amazed every time I have heard a 70 talk in the mission because they never have notes! I don't know how they do it. I loved it, though, because I could feel the spirit so strong while he was talking. Some of my favorite things he said were that some decisions seem small but have huge consequences. Another part I loved was when he said God doesn't give us unnecessary trials. Every trial is designed specifically for us so that we can be stretched to be the person that he wants us to be. Anyway, I am out of time, but it sounds like this week is going to be a busy one for you guys. Wish you Luck! and I will keep you in my prayers.
Love,
Hermana Jones
This week was super fun but a little hectic. We have 7 people who are getting baptized on June 21, so I hope you guys can pray for all of them. The first couple is Viviana and Eric. They are amazing-- we gave them a pamphlet in the street and said we could visit when we got their we asked if they had their pamphlet. They looked down and didn't answer so we thought they had thrown it away but then they brought us into their room and they had cut out all the pictures of Jesus from the pamphlet and taped it up on their wall. They were also at the point of having an abortion when we met them because they didn't even have enough money to feed themselves and they didn't want to bring a baby into the world only to starve, but we promised them that God would help them provide for their family and hermano Eric got a job!
Also we have the Moctesuma family, which is the family from the picture I sent you who have 7 kids. Their oldest daughter, Jessica, said she wants to be a missionary!
Then we have Fabian and Marilu who are referrals from a member and they are the best. I love teaching them because every time we ask how they feel, they say that they feel like they found something that they have been looking for for a long time. The reason this week has been stressful is because none of them are married! So we have been getting the papers ready and getting the wedding ready for three couples! Here in Mexico a lot of people don't ever get married because there is a lot of paper work and in some places it costs a lot of money so they don't have the ability to pay to get married.
Anyway, another funny thing that happened this week is that we had stake conference, which I will talk about in a moment, but the elders in our ward were going to have a baptism, so they started to fill the font, which usually takes about 2 and a half hours. The four of us went with the members who were going to feed us and we ate for an hour so it would be plenty of time to come back, so we ate and at the end I looked at my phone and there were tons of missed calls from members of the church and missionaries in our zone. Our phones were on silent because we were in stake conference before. So I called, and everyone was in panic. The font was overflowing and filling the whole chapel. So we ran back to open the door to the font because only the elders have the keys and spent a lot of time cleaning the church hahaha so sadly there were a lot of witnesses because it was stake conference so all the stake leaders and all the missionaries in our zone are laughing about how the zone leaders and sister training leaders flooded the whole church..... The stake conference was really good though because one of the 70s came in.
I am super amazed every time I have heard a 70 talk in the mission because they never have notes! I don't know how they do it. I loved it, though, because I could feel the spirit so strong while he was talking. Some of my favorite things he said were that some decisions seem small but have huge consequences. Another part I loved was when he said God doesn't give us unnecessary trials. Every trial is designed specifically for us so that we can be stretched to be the person that he wants us to be. Anyway, I am out of time, but it sounds like this week is going to be a busy one for you guys. Wish you Luck! and I will keep you in my prayers.
Love,
Hermana Jones
Elder Jones week 52
HEY GUYS!
That's great news that everything is going according to plan with the move. I wish you guys the best of luck this week with everything! Especially Dan with his birthday!
I had one of the best weeks in my mission so far. We just focused on being as efficient as possible with our time this week and do everything we needed to do to teach with members, have new investigators, and invite EVERYONE to baptism. We invited everyone we taught to baptism this week. Also before this week the greatest number of lessons with a member present I had had was 10, and I could never get above 10. This week we did everything we could to get above 10 lessons with a member present, and we got 20. Numbers don´t define success in missionary work, but I can say that I learned a lot this week about how to work efficiently and effectively.
We witnessed some miracles this week. Alicia, who is the aunt of Isabella, who recently was baptized, has a 2-year-old grand daughter that Isabella takes care of. This week her grand daughter caught a fever and they weren´t able to calm the fever so they took her to the hospital and when they got there they told her something along the lines of that a virus had entered into the brain and that it would probably leave her as a vegetable. They called their hometeachers and they came to the hospital to give the blessing, and then later we came to start a fast with them. Then during the fast, the fever disappeared and she started to eat again. She still needs to stay in the hospital for treatment, but as long as the fever is down it´s a lot more hopeful that she´s not going to have permanent complications. It was a really great experience because Isabella was recently baptized and this has really strengthened her testimony of the fast. (Also a really good Mormon message if you want to learn more about fasting is "the hope of God´s light")
I´ve been really sick all week but I´m still really happy with all the work we´ve done. I´m learning a lot and I can feel myself growing and progressing. I love the mission. I hope you guys have a great week!
Elder Jones
That's great news that everything is going according to plan with the move. I wish you guys the best of luck this week with everything! Especially Dan with his birthday!
I had one of the best weeks in my mission so far. We just focused on being as efficient as possible with our time this week and do everything we needed to do to teach with members, have new investigators, and invite EVERYONE to baptism. We invited everyone we taught to baptism this week. Also before this week the greatest number of lessons with a member present I had had was 10, and I could never get above 10. This week we did everything we could to get above 10 lessons with a member present, and we got 20. Numbers don´t define success in missionary work, but I can say that I learned a lot this week about how to work efficiently and effectively.
We witnessed some miracles this week. Alicia, who is the aunt of Isabella, who recently was baptized, has a 2-year-old grand daughter that Isabella takes care of. This week her grand daughter caught a fever and they weren´t able to calm the fever so they took her to the hospital and when they got there they told her something along the lines of that a virus had entered into the brain and that it would probably leave her as a vegetable. They called their hometeachers and they came to the hospital to give the blessing, and then later we came to start a fast with them. Then during the fast, the fever disappeared and she started to eat again. She still needs to stay in the hospital for treatment, but as long as the fever is down it´s a lot more hopeful that she´s not going to have permanent complications. It was a really great experience because Isabella was recently baptized and this has really strengthened her testimony of the fast. (Also a really good Mormon message if you want to learn more about fasting is "the hope of God´s light")
I´ve been really sick all week but I´m still really happy with all the work we´ve done. I´m learning a lot and I can feel myself growing and progressing. I love the mission. I hope you guys have a great week!
Elder Jones
Thursday, June 4, 2015
Hermana Jones week 61
Hola familia, jaja!
So first of all Happy Birthday to Dad. I hope you had a great birthday.
So this week was pretty great. Sandra got baptized on Sunday and was super happy. It made me kind of sad, though, because she bore her testimony that it was the happiest day of her life but the started crying and said that the only way it could be better is if her husband was there with her. It is a little hard because he worships the santa muerte which is pretty much just the grim reaper. It is kind of scary because people who worship it have tattoos of it or have shrines in their house. In D.F. there were more people who worshiped it so there were huge cases that had the grim reaper inside and people would put offerings by it. We are going to work with her husband a lot though. It will help a lot that Sandra got baptized because it will bring the spirit more into their home.
This week we went to our training meeting in D.F., so that is always fun because we get to see all the other zone leaders and sister training leaders. The Brady family brought us there because all their kids go to a special school in the city for kids who are bilingual. I can't even imagine going every day to school hours away. 4 hours every day just to go and come home from school. They are the best family ever, though, and they live in a neighborhood where there are a lot of people from other countries who are only there for work so when we went to eat with them yesterday one of their friends from Germany was there. It was crazy because his kids can speak German, Spanish, English ,and Russian fluently and one is 7 years old and one is 11. I was super impressed and I think I am going to try and do that with my future kids jajaja well I have to go because we don't have a ton of time to write on Half Pdays but I hope everything is going great there in Chicago and that you guys are going to have a great move.
Love,
Hermana Jones
So first of all Happy Birthday to Dad. I hope you had a great birthday.
So this week was pretty great. Sandra got baptized on Sunday and was super happy. It made me kind of sad, though, because she bore her testimony that it was the happiest day of her life but the started crying and said that the only way it could be better is if her husband was there with her. It is a little hard because he worships the santa muerte which is pretty much just the grim reaper. It is kind of scary because people who worship it have tattoos of it or have shrines in their house. In D.F. there were more people who worshiped it so there were huge cases that had the grim reaper inside and people would put offerings by it. We are going to work with her husband a lot though. It will help a lot that Sandra got baptized because it will bring the spirit more into their home.
This week we went to our training meeting in D.F., so that is always fun because we get to see all the other zone leaders and sister training leaders. The Brady family brought us there because all their kids go to a special school in the city for kids who are bilingual. I can't even imagine going every day to school hours away. 4 hours every day just to go and come home from school. They are the best family ever, though, and they live in a neighborhood where there are a lot of people from other countries who are only there for work so when we went to eat with them yesterday one of their friends from Germany was there. It was crazy because his kids can speak German, Spanish, English ,and Russian fluently and one is 7 years old and one is 11. I was super impressed and I think I am going to try and do that with my future kids jajaja well I have to go because we don't have a ton of time to write on Half Pdays but I hope everything is going great there in Chicago and that you guys are going to have a great move.
Love,
Hermana Jones
Tuesday, June 2, 2015
Elder Jones Week 51
Hey guys!
I had a really great week! Dominic got baptized! I don´t have that many pictures because the person that took the pictures took them in a way so that they turn out really blurry but one of them turned out well! It was a really great baptismal service. His grandma came from another part of Lima. She´s a temple worker. When he gave his testimony at the end and talked about wanting to serve a mission his grandma started crying. He was really well recieved in the ward and the ward council is doing everything they can to help his mom, Liliana. I´m really happy with this ward and the diligence they have in recieving the people we teach and baptize.
So the biggest challenge we had this week was that everyone, including me, was sick. Two of our investigators with a baptismal date weren´t able to come to church because they were sick. BUT their baptismal dates still stand because they have enough church attendances.
I got your package this week! Exactly on the 28th. Thank you so much. I haven´t eaten anything yet because I´m still a little sick but I´m going to the doctor today to get checked out. That´s one thing I´ve learned on my mission: Go to the doctor and take medicine when you are sick. But I should be getting better sometime soon.
This week we started teaching Rafael who recently moved here from Iquitos (the jungle) and he´s living with his distant relatives who live in our ward. He´s 18 years old. They invited him to church last week and he came. I met him and invited him to a giant family home evening last Monday, which he really liked. Then we had a lesson with him on Tuesday with his relatives and the YSA leader in our ward, Christian. It turned out really well because the Acevedo family is a family of full returned missionaries. We invited him to baptism for June 27th and he accepted. Later that day he called us and told us that he didn´t want to wait until the 27th, and that it would be better on the 17th! We had a lesson yesterday with his relatives, Christian, and Jairo (the 18 year old that was baptized 2 weeks ago). We taught the word of wisdom and the law of chastity and he´s still really excited for his baptism the 17th! Leeloo will also be baptized on the 17th.
I had a great week! Happy Birthday to Dad! I wish you all the best of luck with the move, employment, and Allie with the karate. Love you guys!
Elder Jones
I had a really great week! Dominic got baptized! I don´t have that many pictures because the person that took the pictures took them in a way so that they turn out really blurry but one of them turned out well! It was a really great baptismal service. His grandma came from another part of Lima. She´s a temple worker. When he gave his testimony at the end and talked about wanting to serve a mission his grandma started crying. He was really well recieved in the ward and the ward council is doing everything they can to help his mom, Liliana. I´m really happy with this ward and the diligence they have in recieving the people we teach and baptize.
So the biggest challenge we had this week was that everyone, including me, was sick. Two of our investigators with a baptismal date weren´t able to come to church because they were sick. BUT their baptismal dates still stand because they have enough church attendances.
I got your package this week! Exactly on the 28th. Thank you so much. I haven´t eaten anything yet because I´m still a little sick but I´m going to the doctor today to get checked out. That´s one thing I´ve learned on my mission: Go to the doctor and take medicine when you are sick. But I should be getting better sometime soon.
This week we started teaching Rafael who recently moved here from Iquitos (the jungle) and he´s living with his distant relatives who live in our ward. He´s 18 years old. They invited him to church last week and he came. I met him and invited him to a giant family home evening last Monday, which he really liked. Then we had a lesson with him on Tuesday with his relatives and the YSA leader in our ward, Christian. It turned out really well because the Acevedo family is a family of full returned missionaries. We invited him to baptism for June 27th and he accepted. Later that day he called us and told us that he didn´t want to wait until the 27th, and that it would be better on the 17th! We had a lesson yesterday with his relatives, Christian, and Jairo (the 18 year old that was baptized 2 weeks ago). We taught the word of wisdom and the law of chastity and he´s still really excited for his baptism the 17th! Leeloo will also be baptized on the 17th.
I had a great week! Happy Birthday to Dad! I wish you all the best of luck with the move, employment, and Allie with the karate. Love you guys!
Elder Jones
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