Elder Tyler Maxwell Jones Week 14

Hello,

Glad to hear you guys are doing well in Indiana, they're working on fixing the mailbox, it should be done soon. That's awesome that you guys had a gourd sale. Sounds like a lot of fun. We're getting fed plenty, you don't have to worry about that. Spanish is coming along well. I can basically express what I need to say. It's not by any means perfect yet but I've figured that it's better to just go at it with false confidence, pretending like you know it really well and people are more likely to listen to you.

So this was a crazy week. We got a call Tuesday that we were going to go pick up a new companion on Wednesday. So we're a trio now. His name is Elder Jackson. He's pretty awesome. We had to move in a bed and desk for him on Tuesday as well. It's kind of awesome since there's another trio in our zone we often go on splits turning 2 trios into 3 companionships so that we can get to more lessons.

Nathan came to church again. He stayed for all 3 hours which was awesome. We had 3 investigators in church this week which was awesome. They seemed to really like it. We got a bunch of new investigators this week again. It seems to work better if you're just bringing in a lot of people. A lot will drop off, but then you always get a few that will stay and progress.

One of our investigators, Dario, is doing well. He used to be praying to this Santa Muerte statue. He had a necklace and bracelet with La Santa Muerte on them as well. He started reading the Book of Mormon this week though and he took off his necklace and bracelets and gave away his statue. So he's doing well. 

Oh there's apparently been some big problem with homeless people breaking into the church building that the ward council was trying to deal with. They always ask us to make sure they leave after church and make sure they didn't unlock any Windows. A stake counselor came to tell us about a rule that sisters shouldn't go into the church buildings without a Melchizedek priesthood holder there as well. Apparently they've found people sleeping in the church like 7 times. The sister missionaries weren't very happy about that. They argued with him for like half an hour.

We were talking to the Elders in the English ward and apparently during testimony meeting one of the guys that always breaks into the church got up and apologized to everyone for "vandalizing the church" and "leaving his needles everywhere". So that was interesting. 

Anyway, that was alright. It's been a good week nonetheless. I'm having a great time.

Love you guys,

Elder Jones

Elder Tyler Maxwell Jones Week13

I'm writing a bit earlier today to compensate for the late letter last week. Also, someone smashed up our apartment complex mail box so I won't be able to receive Mail here for a while. Apologies for that.

Sounds like things are keeping on there in Indiana. I always loved fall weather. It's getting a bit colder her in San Jose but its remaining relatively invariant. That's crazy that the election is next month. People here aren't too pleased either. Good to hear Courtney and Hal are still going about being goobers. That's exciting to hear about Allison, that would be super cool. I got dan's letter, that was nice.

It's been a good week. It proved more difficult to get people to general conference than to regular church. We didn't end up getting anyone to conference even though we had devoted so much time to trying to get people to it. Nonetheless, I really liked the conference. We were permitted to watch all of the sessions which was great. A lot of really good talks, my favorite was probably Henry B. Eyring's in priesthood session. 

We got a good bunch of investigators this week. It seems like the pattern is that if we teach a lot of people, many will fall through but the ones that stay will be decently solid. We're teaching a member's sister. It's usually most convenient for them to have us come over on Mondays for family home evening to teach her which has been good. She's come to church a few time and really liked it. However she wasn't able to make it to general conference. It's coming along well though.

We had exchanges this week. I went with Elder along and Elder Brayton in the English program. We got to do bikes again which was a lot of fun. There's a hill right in the center of their area which is really fun to just glide down. They've got bike lanes all over the place here as well. We had a couple lessons. They went alright, the person we were teachings sister was in the room who was relatively hostile to what we were sharing. So it ended up that we were mostly just trying to abate problems with that. It ended up alright anyway. We don't usually have problems like that in Spanish, Latinos are so nice.

We had interviews this week so we had to drive up to the mission office. Everyone was a bit behind on schedule so we sort of just rushed through the interviews. It was just a sort of nice 3 minute check up. While we were waiting we spent time just talking to our vehicle coordinator about an issue this week.

Earlier this week we had parked our car in a parking lot to walk to a lesson. The lesson went well but when we came back there was a giant dent in our back bumper. There wasn't a note or anything. So we had to spend the entire next morning sitting in the police station filling out a report. 

Something kind of fun is that in some neighborhoods whenever we walk through the kids will run out around us, cup their hands together, and blow into their hands trying to imitate bird sounds. That's always fun.

I've learned a good few hymns on the piano now. It's getting easier to learn them now. I really like playing the piano. Last night while my companion and the other zone leader went to go take numbers at the church, I just started playing the piano. Elder Brayton is learning how to sing so I just play the hymns while he enjoys singing along. That's a fun part of the week. Numbers usually take an hour or so.

Oh, as well. Something kind of funny that keeps happening to us. All the members get the biggest kick out of seeing my companion and I eat the hottest peppers they can find. There's a little red one that they commonly use. It basically just stings the second you bite into it. Last night at dinner, the hermano just got the biggest grin and then pulled out a bag full of raw habaneros. So my companion and I each downed a few of those. That was less fun.

Anyway, hope you guys have a good week.

Love,

Elder Jones

 

Hello Dan Dan the mustache man. I'm glad to hear of your efforts in mustache growth. That's funny you were running in the rain. We don't ever get rain here in San Jose. That's awesome that you get to study some cool things and that you got into accel math. 

That cat has a very good looking mustache. I hope your mustache looks as good as that cats.

Hope you have a good time in school and cross country.

Love,

Elder Jones

Elder Tyler Maxwell Jones Week 12

Sorry for late email. Today's been crazy.

That's awesome to hear about Caleb. I'm so excited for him. Really
excited for general conference as well. Sounds like you guys are
having a good time in Indiana. Tell Dan to accelerate his mustache
growth.

This was an awesome week. We got some new elders in our zone that are
all super cool. So something fun happened this week. Our mission
president called us and told me that I was going to be a participant
in an experiment. I'm the only one in this mission but they're getting
missionaries from all over. Apparently it's going to be about how
technology affects language learning. So I got to go in a Skype call
with the guy conducting the experiment on Thursday which was cool.
They're going to have me using Duolinguo and apps like that to assist
in language learning and they're going to track my progress. So that's
exciting.

Oh, we got iPads this week. They wait until your second transfer to
give them to you. It's nice to finally have a planner. I had just been
looking off my trainers planner the first transfer.

We had a pretty good week for missionary work. Nathan, the one who
walked 6 miles to try to get to church came to church this week. We've
had a few really good lessons with him this week. We started teaching
a less actives girlfriend while reactivating him. She's been really
receptive as well. We've got a good hand full of people that are just
doing well.

One of the people I had gotten to teach during transfers got baptized
this week. We got to go to the baptism which was nice. We've gotten a
lot of new investigators this week as well so we'll see what comes of
that next week.

We had a family home evening tonight with a members sister tonight
which went really well. She's going to come to conference which is
exciting.

Anyways, it's been an awesome week.

Love you guys,
Elder Jones

Elder Tyler Maxwell Jones Week 11

Hey Guys,

That's still so crazy that Courtney's getting married. Sorry Dan and Allison had to run out in the rain. It never rains here in San Jose. I'm glad you're enjoying your new job.

So this was an awesome week. Exchanges are tomorrow. Fortunately Neither I, nor my trainer have to go anywhere. Just a couple people in our zone are leaving. We went crazy with missionary work this week. Our Bishop gave us a list of less active members to go visit and we visited them this week. We got a bunch of really solid investigators from it. We went to go teach them and they would end up wanting us to teach their non member family members. On top of that, this week we got a few really awesome referrals from the members in the ward.

We had also talked to an interesting man this week just while we were out contacting. We had started talking to him and he had some interesting ideas about how Jesus had already come and that everyone left on earth is garbage and that we're all doomed. So that was a fun experience.

We had stake conference this week which was awesome. They had us go to all the sessions of stake conference. They had my companion do the translating into Spanish which was interesting to see. None of our investigators came. We had gotten a message about half way through stake conference, we got a message from one referral that he was on his way. He had been trying to walk to stake conference. We couldn't get him a ride. We went to meet up with him to talk with him. He had ended up walking about 6 miles to try to get there. He seemed super positive when we went to talk to him and he seems like he is genuinely interested. He's been homeless for about 3 months now. We're probably going to be trying to connect him to employment resources. The employment resources center is in our ward building which is nice.

Something I don't think I've mentioned yet is that the amount of diversity just among Latinos in San Jose is crazy. We're teaching all sorts of people from pretty much everywhere in Latin America. All the members are from all over the place as well. One sister in our ward is from El Salvador and she taught us how to make Papusas. Papusas are super good. They're basically this special batter that you flatten out into a circle, put whatever you want inside, ball up the contents inside the batter and then flatten it out again and cook it. It's super good.

Anyway, this has been an awesome week, hope you guys are having a good time in Indiana. I'm doing well here in San Jose

Love you guys,

-Elder Jones

Elder Tyler Maxwell Jones Week 10

That's crazy to think that Courtney's going to be married so soon. Tell Dan to start growing out his mustache for me. Also, tell Allie to stop being a goober and get to bed on time. I'm glad you enjoy your job. I got some envelopes and stamps so I'm sending dad a letter today.

So this week was awesome.

We were able to talk to Herick earlier in the week and he was committed to getting baptized. Later in the week we weren't able to get in contact with him. He wasn't at his apartment, he didn't answer his calls or messages. He didn't go to church this week as well. So that was disappointing. We're just going to give him a bit of time and come back.

Gwen, the lady that said "thank you Jesus" came to church yesterday. We had referred her to the English missionaries and seeing her in church was awesome. Veronica is progressing really well. Her and her wife were interested in the temple in a lesson we gave and got really excited about it. So we're in the process of organizing a temple trip for them. So we're excited about that. We met a man named Edibierto this week. He's awesome as well. We've been teaching him and he's been keeping commitments and such which is great. He wasn't able to come to church though.

We picked up some more awesome investigators this week. We had zone training meeting this week. That was nice, they had me play the piano for that. The sisters in our ward had a baptism and I had to play piano for that as well. There was also a district leader meeting this week. So during that I went on transfers into the English program. We got to ride bikes all day which was so much fun. It's so much easier to contact when you can just do it whenever you're on your way to your next appointment. Apparently they rarely have Spanish missionaries biking since we cover a much larger area. We got to contact some Latinos on the way as well. I was surprised that I was able to speak with them so well. I think it was a bit like taking of the training wheels. Without a companion that knows any Spanish its more important to really clearly understand everything they're saying.

There are transfers next week and everyone's freaking out about it because apparently they're expecting a lot to change in our zone. I'm kind of content where I'm at right now so I hope I stay but no one knows apparently.

Anyway, I'm having a great time and meeting a lot of awesome people.

 Love you guys,

Elder Jones

Elder Tyler Maxwell Jones Week 9

Sounds like you guys are keeping busy. That's unfortunate that the van broke down. I assume that dad went fishing in the pond behind grandma and grandpas house. Sounds like cross country is wearing lil Danel out.

This week was pretty great.

We had gotten a referral from the English Missionaries that there was a less active member who had a wife that only spoke Spanish so he wanted Spanish Elders to come teach him and his wife. Their names were Arturo and Victoria. We had a couple really great lessons with them this week about the restoration and the Book of Mormon. They even came to church yesterday. They both really loved it. So I'm really excited for them.

Herick decided that he didn't want to get baptized right now and that he'll call us when he wants to start having lessons again. We've been trying to get in contact with him again after that but we haven't been able to.

We're teaching a man named Mannuel as well. We had actually found him while he was just sitting in his truck. We started teaching him and then earlier this week we stopped by his house and we started talking to him. He had drunken a lot that day and he was crying about how he's going to be kicked out of the room he's renting and that he wants to stop drinking. We talked to him a little bit but came back later this week. We talked to him again. He didn't get kicked out but he still really wants to stop drinking. He's having a hard time with it.

We had exchanges this week. I was in the English program for a day with Elder Long while an English Elder was in the Spanish program for a day with my companion. It was a lot of fun. Elder Long is great and we had a good time. We did a bit of contacting. English speaking people aren't as nice as Latinos. We had a good time though. We talked to some people and had a few lessons that wen't pretty well. We had dinner with the Bishop of English ward that night and he had the exact same mannerisms as Uncle Pat which was fun to see.

I got to play Piano again in sacrament meeting which is always fun. Didn't have to talk this week. There was a man that lives in the church building that was raiding the kitchen fridge. The Bishop asked us to go talk to him and keep an eye on him during church. So that was an interesting experience. 

Anyway, It's been an awesome week, hope you guys have a great week as well.

Love,

Elder Jones

Elder Tyler Maxwell Jones Week 8

When I got to zone conference, They gave me a couple of dad's letters. I was happy to get those. My Apartment mailing address is 750 N King Rd. Apt. 1207 . Weather is perfect here. It hasn't rained since I've been here and I'm pretty sure it never rains here.

Sounds like you guys are keeping busy in Indiana. It is kind of weird to hear that grandma's selling the house. It seems like it will probably be for the best though.

Anyway, this week was fantastic.

My companion and I got to go do a little bit of yard work for an old lady nearby. While we were talking to her we learned that she was from Iran and that she had been living there in the 1970's. So she was super cool and had some cool stories. She made us some Persian food for lunch which was also really good.

On Wednesday every one of our appointments fell through.  Which was a bit challenging but it was alright. That day was less fun. However on Thursday we tried stopping by Herick's apartment again and he was there. So that was super duper awesome. Apparently he had been really busy with immigration lawyers and whatnot but we got to talk to him and start teaching him again. He's really cool. He had actually referred himself after he had just decided to go to the temple visitors center one day. He had watched the restoration video there and filled out a form online to have missionaries come see him. So he's awesome. So he has a baptismal date for two Saturdays from now.

 On Thursday we had also been walking down the street after another one of our appointments fell through and we saw an old lady that was trying to sweep out the door. We offered to help her. She's from Louisiana and has kind of a southern christian demeanor to her. When we offered to help her she had said "thank you Jesus". We had started talking to her and she said that she had had surgery recently and that she had been praying for someone to help her. She was happy to sit down and talk with us for a while. We had taught her about the restoration. She seemed to really like it. She told us that she had recently left her old church and was looking for another church to join. She was super awesome. Unfortunately, we're not going to get to teach her though. She doesn't speak Spanish so we referred the English Elders to her. I'm excited for her though.

We finally got to confirm Juana. She had been baptized about a month ago by the elders before us but she didn't go to church the next day so she hadn't been confirmed. Everyone was kind of getting on us to find her and confirm her. The Bishop and Mission President had just told us to confirm her in her house if we found her. But it was good, we got to sit down and have a conversation about the holy ghost with her and then confirmed her.

Saturday night we got a call that My companion and I were going to be giving talks in church Sunday morning. Fifteen minutes each... Spanish. So that was fun. It really wasn't that bad. I was able to pretty much say what I wanted to say. I took up all the time I needed to as well. It seems like Latinos really like to see people try to learn Spanish. Sacrament meeting was kind of busy both giving a talk and playing the piano but it was fun.

We had an appointment with a less active member and his non member wife this morning. We went to go teach them and they both seemed really excited about the gospel and the wife seemed really enthusiastic about wanting to come to church. She was also happy to see that I was trying to learn Spanish.

Spanish is coming along much easier. I can pretty much say whatever I need to say. I just need to figure out subjunctives and learn more vocabulary.

Anyways, I'm happy, hope you guys have a great week.

Love,

Elder Jones