Elder Kevin Jones: It's HOT.....in This Car!! 17th P day in Peoria, 40th P day in Phoenix Mission

Elder Stafford (zone leader) wearing Elder Langi's suit coat

Elder Bradshaw trying to study!

It's HOT.....in This Car!! 17th P day in Peoria, 40th P day in Phoenix Mission

Hello, friends and family! I had a pretty wonderful week. While the
Midwest is experiencing a lot of rain and storms, we're experiencing
really HOT weather. Mother Nature is ticked off! I guess this is what
we get for having an extremely beautiful May. OH WELL! I'm pretty
excited to say that I served through (and biked through) a Phoenix
summer! Anyway, enough rambling. Here was my week!

Monday: P-day. 'Twas fun. It was extremely eventful. We played
ultimate frisbee and flag football at a park in Peoria North stake.
Elder Wolfgramm (Elder Langi's companion, also a Tongan) TRUCKED our
zone leader, Elder Bunn, on accident. He was pretty shaken up. It took
a while for him to stand up. After that we got locked out of the
Spanish Elders' car so we had to wait for a while. Yeah, it was a
pretty full pday. Sorry again that I didn't get to talk to you all
much last week. We went finding at night, not much success because
everyone was partying haha.
Temp: 91°F

Tuesday: A LONG day. We woke up and went to help Britney paint one of
her closets. After being there for a while, we went home and grabbed a
quick bite to eat, then went to Eve's Treasures. They didn't have much
work for us so we left early. We then studied. Studying in the middle
of the day is the hardest thing ever. I don't know why. It's so hard
to stay focused. We then had a DELICIOUS home-cooked meal. They
invited some less-active members to eat with us. It was great to talk
with them and testify of the Atonement. That's the best part of being
a missionary. (Testifying, not the home-cooked meals...:)) After
dinner we had a lesson with Brother Reese. His wife and daughter
weren't there, so we shared a message about Joseph Smith and the Book
of Mormon with him. He's progressing so well. I hope I'm still in the
mission when their family gets sealed in the temple. I want to be
there for that. Dion left us a HILARIOUS message on our phone. He
said, "Hey, guys, this is DION. Just wanted to tell you I have started
reading the 'Mormon book.' I would like to meet sometime this week. I
gotta go, I'm runnin' out of minutes on my Obama Phone. Love y'all.
See ya."
Temp: 94°F

Wednesday: It was a rough day. I was pretty sick up until dinner time.
I still went to Eve's Treasures to help out, though. Our job was
throwing away some stuff that was set aside. There were some crazy
things! I found a brand new leather wallet, so I snagged it. They said
I could just have it. After service I had a pretty crazy headache and
stomach ache. I took some meds and took a small nap. The next thing I
knew, Elder Bradshaw was waking me up at 4:45........and our dinner
was 20 minutes away......so we booked it! Somehow we made it on time.
We had dinner with the Lloyd's, and on Sunday they asked us what we
wanted, and we couldn't decide. They said to think about it and call
them with our decision. We forgot to call them, so they just guessed.
Sister Lloyd said, "Well, you guys never told us what you wanted, so
we just grilled you guys steak." OH DARN. :) It was goooooooolod
steak. After dinner we had a lesson with Leah. We read through a
couple chapters of the Book of Mormon. She's progressing well. Her
spirit is so strong. It's so amazing to see how far she has come. She
said she went to her old church last week with her grandma, and she
told us that—with the knowledge she has now—her old beliefs just don't
make sense. She says she understands God's plan more now. Good day!!
Temp: 96°F

Thursday: Wonderful day. We had a zone training meeting with our zone
and President Griffin. We did a group meeting, then interviews. They
catered Jersey Mike's Subs for lunch. I LOVE Jersey Mike's. We were at
the church until about 4pm. We then had to leave and had a quick
dinner with a member. After dinner we went out with Brother Gonzalez
to visit some people. He is absolutely hilarious. He needed sugar
after our visits and took us to Sonic. For those of you who know me
well, the fact that I hadn't had Sonic in almost 10 months is INSANE.
:)
Temp: 99°F

Friday: Weekly planning. Before planning, we had a quick lesson with
Pedro. It went well. He's still super solid and doesn't have many
questions. He blesses the sacrament every week and I'm pretty sure I
saw him teaching in priests quorum. Since he graduated, he's available
more. I hope they call him as a ward missionary. We exchanged with the
Spanish elders. I was with Elder Rodriguez in his area. Oh yeah—I GOT
TO DRIVE. Elder Rodriguez can't drive yet so I got to drive! (I'll
attach pictures :))
Temp: 101°F

Saturday: Driving! Driving! More driving! I was super nervous to drive
again, but I did just fine. We did a lot of finding. Too bad I
couldn't understand a thing that was going on. Haha! We had some
weird, but good, Mexican food with a member. I ate so much I almost
got sick right there! Haha. One cool experience: we had a lesson with
a recent convert family, and they only speak Spanish. In the middle of
the lesson, Elder Rodriguez looked at me and said, "Could you hear
your testimony on temples?" Surprised, I bore testimony in English.
They understood everything I said. The Spirit is real.
After the lesson we rushed home only to find out we were locked out!
We then waited for Elder Merrill and Langi to come open the door. They
were on exchange. Elder Langi gave me a hug and I disappeared into his
massive chest Hahahahaha.
Temp: 104°F

Sunday: It was a Sunday full of meetings. At Church, Elder Bradshaw
gave a great talk on grace. Then stake general priesthood meeting. Our
stake president gave a wonderful talk about addressing the Church
members' problem with pushing young men to serve missions RIGHT when
they can. He said it's one of the biggest problems in the Church. He
spoke a lot on making sure we're prepared to do His work. He also
spoke about honoring our priesthood. They gave us pie and ice cream!
Oh yeah!
Temp: 107°F

So yeah. It was hot. But I got to drive. :)
I hope you all had a wonderful week. Stay awesome.

Much love,

Elder Jones
Oakwood / Centennial Wards
Arizona Phoenix Mission