8 de Octubre 2012

Dear Mom, Dad, jess, Nick, Spencer, Caden Alexnadra and Dan....:)  Wow.  I have quite a big family!

Well, the work is going well down here in HOT Paraguay.  We have had a great week and the heat is starting up again...haha um...it never really stopped!

General Conference was AMAZING (and yes, Spencer...I was watching it at the same time as you and the family :)

I especially loved President Uchtdorf's and President Monson's talks...oh and Elder Holland, who as hermana Arnell and I say, always gives us the "cha-ha".  LOVED each talk and as I listened to the Tabernacle Choir, I am sure one day I will sing with them or do something for the Lord singing because #1 I love it, #2 when I sing I feel closest to my Father in heaven, and #3 it is a talent He has given me and I recognize how serious it is to not use our talents the more I read the scriptures.  Thanks again 1000 X for helping me develop that and every other talent that I have.

As I listened to Elder hales and Holland, I was so grateful for the spirit felt.  I want to show the Lord I love Him more.  When Elder Scott talked, I felt a huge need to take advantage of free family history services at BYU wile I still can!

President Monson always has the most touching stories that help you listen and remember and apply...oh and the faces he makes are always the best.

I did something different...I wrote notes in purple and put a green star next to things I felt I should do and wrote in green what the spirit taught me but wasn't said.  I am excited to apply what I have learned.  "Ask  in Faith"

I hope each of you can always have a Book of Mormon with you or a pass along card and always be willing and looking for people that the missionaries can teach.  Elder Bednar said in a recent conference talk that missionaries are full time teachers and the members are full time finders....I hope/will always be actively searching for those the Lord has prepared (He is preparing everyone!)  Alma 13:36 The majority of them just don't know it!  We love everyone...pray for opportunities to serve and share and act upon the will of the Lord...every day searching for what that is!  They don't know they are missing something in their lives, but we do so we HAVE to share it!  It's not hard, as we just desire and are willing to do small and simple things...the Lord will see our willingness and pour down blessings to bless others!

I love this Gospel and I love that no matter what...we will live together forever because it's the Lord's promise and we are full of faith.

Love you all!

Love,
Su Hermana Jones

PS  Elder Bednar will be here Oct 27/28 to talk to us-ah!  Hermanas always have fron row seats ha ha!!  (no pics, Mom...the President already told me :(

PPS  Nick!   You are going to be a very young missionary...thought of each of you boys and am SO excited for my brothers...:)  Prepapense!  (this was mentioned after the new mission age is 18 now, not 19, mentioned in the beginning of this recent conference)

27 de Agosto 2012,

Dear Mom, Dad, Nick, Spencer and Caden,

So, yesterday we talked to a lady in the street who told us, "Oh, I know about Mormons!  They are having a huge celebration in Italy with over 4,000 people.  My daughter is there working in Rome!!"  I was confused at first but as we talked, I realized she was talking about the temple!  I don't know how to describe it, but as we walked away, I just wanted to cry and shout out loud (okay..the spirit:)  I was so excited- It is something I can't describe, I FEEL an excitement...not just by me, but those beyond the veil.

 The Lord is preparing to come...I can feel it.  I am excited that just one more temple has been dedicated.  One thing that made me sad was that the mission secretary sent us an email telling us that the area presidency has said that our duty, as missionaries is not for the salvation of souls on the other side of the veil, so we can only go to the temple one time every year and then once at the end of our missions.  I do agree and will support what they say, but I long to go to the temple...to learn and remember the billions of things that you learn there- to find strength in my covennats.  Take ADVANTAGE of your time in the temple or to be ABLE to go!!

The picture I sent you a few weeks ago of the little girls with our backpacks...well, it was interesting.  Yesterday, we left early to find an investigator (to wake them up ha ha) who lives in their neighborhood, so she could come to church.  Well, she didn't end up coming to church, so we went to Hermana Clotilde's house (less-active member to remind her to come to church.  She said she wouldn't go, but sent some of her beautiful grandkids to come with us.  As we waited and helped them put on their shoes, I tried to brush their hair that is always matted down with knots...we were trying to hurry so we could make it on time.  Danya (11 anos), Nigeli (8 anos) and Michele (6 anos) came with us and are always so excited to come!  They always scream our names and tackle us.

Nigeli could feel the Spirit while we were at church and said that she wanted to get baptized.  As we walked them to cross the street after church, hand in hand, I looked down at Michele with the typical dirt covering her freckles and sweat pants fromt he 80's and her typical grin as she smiled up at us and swung my hand and I couldn't stop smiling and then had the best thought of, "I can't wait to see you one day again when we are with Heavenly Father again!"  I have had those feelings so many times...but only with very specific people.

I love the people of Paraguay...so much.
I am excited to one day return to the presence of my Father in Heaven and be with our familia forever and be able to continue being with those that I love from Paraguay. 

I pray that I can bring souls to Him-help them receive the blessings of the Gospel  - share the gospel with a friend!!!

Les amo muchisimo,
Su Hermana Jones 

20 de Agosto 2012 (hand written letter to family)

Mi Querida Mom, Dad, Nick, Spencer and Caden,

How are all of you?!  I am sitting at my desk listening to "Book of Mormon Stories".  I LOVE  the scriptures so much...we are so blessed to have prophets today.

We studied about the prophets in our Gospel Principles class and it would have been the best for our investigator, Carmen Gonzalez.  Sundays are so different now.  Everything we do during the week is in preparation for Sunday...personally and with your investigators to help them get to church and it is the best feeling when they come because it means they are just THAT much closer to being  BAPTIZED!

Nick and Spencer...you two are going to be INCREDIBLE missionaries.  As  I am a missionary, I see the missionaries that have a lot of success and see my siblings/parents in them. :)

One missionary named Elder Marina, is from Honduras and reminds me of you, Spencer...LOTS of energy and always excited planning the next event (or baptism)  Your energy and passion (and way of being on time ha ha), will be great strengths to you, buddy.  His energy and enthusiasm for the work and the people has helped him to be a great instrument in the hands of the Lord!  Another missionary, Elder Pouce, is also from Honduras is a lot like you, Nick.  :)  Nick you have always been very kind and loving and put the Lord first.  Your love for Him and way of understanding others will allow you to be a "Captain Moroni" missionary-you and Spencer (and Caden).

Caden...well, bud, you love to read, so I am sure you will grow to love the scriptures and be a strong missionary, too!

No, but really...let's all, ALWAYS be missionaries and pray always for opportunities to share the Gospel-The Good News!"

Les quiero muchisimo-que tengan una buena semana.
Hermana Jones

13 de Agosoto 2012

Dear family...
Dad, Mom, Nick, Spencer and Caden,

By the time you get this, you will be starting your new school year! Nick, you are in high school1 That is so weird and exciting! And, Spencer you, too! You will be in the classes in Bath instead of Hillcrest. I hope you are enjoying your new teachers and that everyone is happy...we have so many reasons to be happy.

A neat story that just happened thirty seconds ago...I have to first explain. President Callen is VERY thrifty, and cut the missionary budget a lot (which I do think is great, but it also means we have to be careful with our money!) So...to be able to print pictures and send you cards every week, I am washing my clothes by hand! And, all my garments that once were white, now are yellow and grey because I sweat so much!! Ha Ha Gross, I know. Anyways, I was writing your letter and then looked out the window to our patio right as a gust of wind blew some of my garments to the ground and because I had turned around to look out the window, I was able to pick them up. I know that the Holy Ghost helps us do, even the small but important things.

I am grateful for this gospel. I know that if we each strive to do our very best and live worthy of the guidance of the Holy Ghost as we keep our covenants, Heavenly Father will bless us to be happy and happy forever as a family! Have a great week!

Les quiero cada uno do uds.
Love, Su Hermana Jones

6 de Agosto (letter handwritten to family),

Mom, Dad, Nick, Spence and Caden,

!?Como estan todos?! ?Saben que? Es el invierno aqui y hace casi treinta grados...o tal vaz menos. :) Estan locos porque piensen que hace frio areses jaja.

There you go, Nick! I thought I would give you a part to translate!

I have tried to send a letter every week but the last ones didn't get sent out because of the crazy Paraguayan mail.

This week we had a lesson with aless-active member named Cirilia Sales. She was baptized thirty years ago but, with time, stopped coming to church. She was never offended by what others said...she just didn't have really strong friendships with the members, so when the missionaries stopped visiting or moved away, she slowly stopped coming.

She came to church for the first time the other Sunday after thirty years! Woohoo!!
As we visited her again this week, she told us how she just didn't have the energy, liked another church where they sang with a band for two hours, and how there is too much commitment in the church and that she doesn't want to wear a skirt! Ah! All of the excuses possible...because it is HARD to break a bad habit/sin and replace it with good ones, but it is ALWAYS worth it! The Lord will never allow us to be tempted more than we can handle (1 Corinthians 10:13)

As I listened to her and we asked her questions/read scriptures to try and figure out what/where her testimony was, I was filled with so much pain. She KNOWS it is the true church, she knows and names the blessings she will miss. But, she will not do it. I am sure I felt just the TINIEST glimpse of what our Father in Heaven feels when we leave from the influence of His Spirit as we sin. May we be filled with desires to always please Him! As we talked, I also realized just that much more how important it is to love and take care of our brothers and sisters...the Lord's way...Visiting Teaching and Home Teaching! Ah, it is divinely planned and ordained. I hope I can, for the rest of my life, go to church, searching for the one that is not there or that is there, but sad and lonely.

Heavenly Father lives and loves us! Have a great week each and everyone of you. Always remember that I love you more than everything (minus Heavenly Father) and if I don't write you each your own card or don't write lots, it's because of that. It is HIS time I am on.

Les quiero,
Love, Su Hermana Jones

16 de Julio 2012 (handwritten letter sent to the family)

Dear Mom, Dad, Nick, Spencer and Caden,

!Hola de su Hermana en Paraguay!

A neat story from this week....we started teaching Cirila Salen who is 45 and hasn't been to church in 30 years! She finally let us in to talk to her and she came to church yesterday for the first time!! Woohoo!! I was soo excited. The members really made her feel welcome also. We wore purple so she would let us in because it's her favorite color!

When we taught her, we taught about the importance of our baptismal covanants and the Atonement- how Christ has made the way possible to be free from any sins or mistakes we have made.

She stopped going because she lost contact with the sister missionaries and just didn't have a lot of friends at church and now she is struggling with a lot of problems with her son now who is addicted to drugs. Her daughter that she takes care of ran into the room and wanted to sing, so we suggested, "I Am a Child of God." "You will sing and I will cry," Cirilia said. As we sang, I knew she could feel Heavenly Father's love and hope for her that she hasn't felt in a really long time. Also, we stopped after a lesson the other day at a house and clapped...waited...no answer...clapped again..."?hello?" "someone" shouted in their dark garage, "Hi!" We are missionaries from La Iglesia de JesuCristo de los...." and then, I stopped and laughed as I realized I was talking to their parrot...we started laughing and I couldn't stop as we walked away and heard the parrot laughing with us. :)

Sure do love you all. Christ offers us hope and peace if we just live His gospel.

"Hurrah for Israel!"
Su Hermana JonesM

25 de Junio 2012 (hand written letter to the family)

Querida Familia,
I sure do love all of you. I keep forgetting you are not in school, but are enjoying summer! It's getting colder here but it's really not that bad...supposedly it only gets super cold for a month (Julio), so I am getting ready!

I thought it was neat what I learned in the scriptures in 3 Nefi 23. The Lord asks to see the records they have kept of the prophecies of the prophets. When Nefi brought them to Him, Christ asks Him why he hadn't written some of the prophecies of Samuel the Lamanite. Nefi realizes he should have written the prophecies and the Lord commands them to write them. It doesn't say how Nefi reacted, but I am sure, as a prophet, he was very humbled with the counsel the Lord gave to him. I am learning to be more humble. I want to be humble and patient.

I didn't tell you that I finished the Book of Mormon! It was about a week or two ago, and I was reading late at night as Hermana Arnell and I were in our room. As I closed my Libro de Mormon, finishing the last words of Moroni, I was filled with a sure testimony that the book was true. The Spirit filled my heart and the room. I know the Book of Mormon is true.

A quick story from my new ward. There is the family Parini and we had lunch with them on Wednesday/Friday (I can't remember which day?!) and Hermana Parini just grabbed my arms as I walked in and gave me the biggest hug telling me, "this is your home!" She told us, whenever the missionaries come over, her husband always worries a ton about what they are going to cook for us. They have a farm that he works at during the week and then comes home for the weekends...so they made cream with cookies from his cows.

!Amo a los Paraguayos! I know this is Christ's church. !Les quiero y espero que tengan una semana buenisima! !Podemos esta justos para siempre!

Su Hermana Jones

18 de Junio 2012 (hand written letter to the family)

Querida familia,

Oh how I love you all so much. Nick, I just read your letter of the struggle/battle you had withthe ancient toaster. ha ha I laughed a lot about that-that was really funny. I feel like Heavenly Father has blessed me way more than I deserve to have given me a family that I love so much...I know our family isn't perfect because I am not perfect, but sometimes I feel like my family is perfect and I love you all very much.

A neat story I would like to share with you: I am using Hermana Plummer's backpack right now because my other one isn't that great and my back had begun to hurt really bad. Well, as my back was starting to hurt, Hermana Arnell's feet started getting really bad also to the point she would be crying and she doesn't cry. Well, being tough like she always, is, if she sensed that I was in any pain with my back, she would ask if she could carry my backpack with hers for awhile. I always refused because...well I wasn't going to give her my backpack and add to her load when she could barely walk!! She would often, after a lesson just pick up my backpack, adding it to her weight and start walking and I couldn't really do anything about it! She told me last night that often when she would "take my load" for me she didn't feel the pain so strongly in her feet. The Lord, literally took away some of her pain as she tried to take away my pain. What a testimony of the Atonement of our Savior.

It is about 5:30 here, so I am wrapping up this letter to get ready to leave the house and teach the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ!! We are teaching Noelia, Marcos and Elias tonight. They don't know that I am leaving so I have to tell them tonight and I hope they are not sad. we are going to teach them tithing with the gum you sent me, Mom!

Well, Hermana Arnell just woke up from her nap...ha ha...gotta go!
Les quiero Mom, Dad, Nick, Spencer and caden and Alexandra!
Hurrah for Israel!
Su Hermana Jonesstyle="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">

11 de Junio 2012

Dear Family, (Mom, Dad, Nick, Spencer and Caden) :)
I cannot believe how fast time flies. As a missionary, we often do not realize how much has happened in just one day and it feels like something happened five days ago when it really happened that very morning because our days are so jammed packed! I seriously come home every day amazed by everything that Heavenly Father helped us do and 100% exhausted but happy! So the days seem long and good, but the weeks fly by so fast and we are already winding down for transfers again...yikes! I have been in Nemby for seven months now and am hoping I get to continue serving here. (President Monson wants the missionaries in their areas for longer amounts of time so they can know the members better and work more with them.) :)

We are going to Asuncion again today. We went last week to see dr. Spencer about Hermana Arnell's feet. She probably wouldn't want me to tell all of you because she is really "tough" and doesn't like to cry (yes, she crys more now because she is my companion...jaja) I know that makes sense to you! But, it takes us about an hour to walk to different areas that only took us fiftenn munites in the past. The pain is so bad in her feet that she literally coannot take another step or she will fall over. She has had seven surgeries in her life and the doctor thinks that her nerves in her feet are surrounded by scar tissue from the surgeries. so to walk SO much and not really be able to rest causes the nerves to act up because with the scar tissue they can't "move" correctly with the muscles in her feet...and so all of that is causing incredible pain. hermana Arnell doesn't complain about pain or feeling sick either...she just wants to work hard. President Callen asked for an interview before he left so I hope that by some miracle her feet are healed.

One quick thought/story....Noelia, 13 anos and Marcos, 10 anos, came to church yesterday and they love it! Their younger brother, Elias, (8 anos), who we were teaching also...we have not been able to help him read in the Book of Mormon...and he doesn't want to come to church sometimes, so we are focusing on helping Neolia and marcos get baptized and then hopefully with their example, Elias will follow. :) Anyways, we had a lesson with the family and Noelia told us she didn't want to go to church but she was too embarrassed to tell us why. She finally whispered in my ear, "I can't read and I don't like it when they as me to read!" She can read, but it is really hard for her, so we told her we would as her teacher to not call on her in class to read and she agreed to come to church.

Well, they came and in the end as we were leaving the chapel she said, "I read a lot in class today!"...I started praying a lot and then I was able to read!!" her teacher is Hermana Ojeda's older sister, Hermana Rolon, and they had a combined class with the young men and Hermana Rolon said that everyone gave her a lot of suport and love. AFterwards, Noelia was so excited about "La forteleza para la Juvenud" (Strength for Youth) booklet that they gave her that she told us, she would be reading all of it this week! Noelia tals a lot and marcos is really serious and silent so we didn't get a whole lot our of him, but he told us he had to get home to read his Book of Mormon!

Nick and Spencer (and Caden :))...you are going to make AMAZING missionaries...and are going to love the mission. I have heard of brothers and sisters serving in the same missions and even the same area as their older brothers and sisters, so who knows! I think that would be so neat!!
Ho to prepare for a mission? Just keep doing what you are doing-read and love the scriptures and do all that you can to show your family and friends that you love them. :)
Les quiero cada uno de uds.
Love, Su Hermana Jones

Letter sent from June 4, 2012
Dear family,
This week I sent a SUPER short email and this letter is going to have to be super short also. I just made brownies and TRIED to make cornbread for FHE we are having with Carlitos (the boy we are teaching, 13 anos, friends of Mauricio Caledervilla, and I burnt the brownies and the cornbread is super iffy?! ha ha Ah! Who is my mom? ha ha...just teasing you, Mom.

I noticed in the last picture that you had pictures of me on the fridge, so if you still have those on there you need to switch them out with these!

I just want to bear my testimony:
(Nick...this is a test for you. You can be the "translator") :)
Yo se que esta es la iglesia verdadera. Yo se que el Libro de Mormon es verdadero y al ....in el BOM, yo siento el Espiritu tan fuerte. Voy a terminar en dos semanas!) Yo amo a mi Salvador, Jesucristo y le soy gracias por su sacrificio que es por todos...y es para mi. !!Les quiero?? Love, Su Hermana Jones