Elder Kevin Jones: 15th P Day in Phoenix- Contacting

Hello all! It's p-day! Seriously this week flew by. We have an
exciting week coming up. I'm going to the store and stuff so I'll
email afterward! I love you all and miss you. Elder Shurtleff is the
man. Seriously we're like best friends. President Griffin was at the
church yesterday before church talking to our stake president so we
saw him. He said Elder Shurtleff and I look good together. That's a
good sign that we won't be transferred on the 31st, but who knows?
He's pretty unpredictable. Haha. But for real, I'll be surprised if
Elder Shurtleff isn't my favorite companion by the end of my mission.
He's awesome hahaha.

Off to the store! Can you believe I've been doing my own laundry for
almost four whole months now? CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT ON THE 12TH I'LL
HAVE BEEN OUT FOR FOUR MONTHS?? Crazy. Elder Shurtleff just passed his
16 month mark. He thinks it's super hot here in the valley...he always
says, "holy crap it's hot today!" When it's like 72 degrees. Yes, it's
still 75 here almost every day. I keep forgetting it's winter in other
places. Seeing Christmas lights while sweating still isn't normal for
me...haha.
I'll Email soon! I love you all!

Elder Jones

Dear family and friends,

So this week was a so/so week. Elder Shurtleff and I couldn't be
getting along better, though. I'll just go through my week and explain
what happened each day! Thank goodness for journals...haha.

Monday (night): We had two lessons: one with a less-active
family(Evans family), and one with an investigator(Eliza). I love the
Evans family! The dad is a recent convert and they're all returning to
church! It's great to see them show up at church every week despite
their busy work schedules. They have three boys, the oldest is a
sophomore. He's a big kid, but reminds me heavily of Michael Vanslyke
back home. By the way, if you're reading this, HI MICHAEL! Haha. Eliza
is 10 and really wants to be baptized. Her mom is a less-active
member. She's really hyper but it's always a blast teaching them.

Tuesday: We had a lesson scheduled with the Senreiso family, but it
fell through again. I really want Elder Shurtleff to meet them, but it
just isn't working that way! They're such a cool family but they just
can't commit to be baptized. We're working super hard on them, though.
We ended up teaching three lessons that night after the Senreiso's
fell through. They were all member lessons, but that's okay. We were
able to ask for referrals and get them to commit to do their own
missionary work!

Wednesday: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAD! Yes, it was my wonderful dad's
birthday. Today we were on exchange and Elder Buckway was in my area
with me. I LOVE Elder Buckway. Seriously, he's so awesome. We get
along so well! Haha. We were supposed to have two lessons that day,
but they both ended up not happening....I swear this is a plague in
missionary work. Quentin really wants to be baptized, but if he keeps
canceling, it's not going to happen as quickly as he wants it! By the
way, Quentin is a new investigator and is a former gang member. He's
super awesome and truly wants to turn his life around. He's the man.

Thursday: Weekly planning. Yeah, that about sums it up. Elder Buckway
was over most of the day because his companion and the zone leaders
were at MLC all day. (Missionary leadership conference). We went
around contacting people with the "He is the Gift" cards. This
initiative is huge. One old guy we contacted said that he belongs to
"The Original Church of Christ". We were so tempted to ask when he was
baptized—we refrained. Haha. Elder Buckway was pretty sick so we
didn't go out much that day. Of course, another cancelled investigator
lesson.

Friday: We were just biking around a neighborhood and an SUV stopped
beside us and if was an investigator family, the Sayegh's. They had
just cancelled the day before but invited us in and we taught them a
little bit. Ramsey, the dad, sure can get off topic. Somehow we were
talking about mummies in Egypt...yeah don't know how that happened. We
got to bear fervent testimony at the end after Ramsey tried to stump
us. It was pretty cool and the Spirit was there. We had the Shaw Butte
Ward Christmas party. We got to meet some less active members who
came. That was pretty cool!

Saturday: We had zone meeting! I love zone meeting. I get to see all
of my favorite missionaries and get to learn how to become better. I
need it! :p We ended up teaching a less active family whose dad is
deaf. They're a super cool family and it's interesting having his wife
translate into
Sign language as we speak. It's kinda distracting! Haha.

Sunday: FAST SUNDAY. After church, Sister Simon had her family over
and was having baby back ribs....they smelled so good. Too bad we were
fasting! Haha nah, I know that the Lord will bless me for not giving
in to the ribs. Yeah Sunday's are always pretty crazy because we are
at church for 7 hours. Two wards rocks! Haha. For dinner we are at a
member's home and they made this DELICIOUS chicken, stuffed with cream
cheese, jalapeños, and wrapped in bacon. WOW. Best fast-breaker ever.
The Christmas Devotional was amazing. I loved it!

So yeah, Last week was pretty great. On Thursday we get to
go to the Mesa temple all day and do a session and see the Christmas
Lights! So excited! Plus we get to go with the Goodyear/Buckeye zone
which is where Elder Watson is! Super psyched!

Oh, I have another request for my package. A BIG bag of Swedish fish.
:) thanks!! Transfers are December 31st, so send mail and packages
sooner than later! I love you all! Email me! :)

Much love,

Elder Jones