Wednesday, July 29, 2015

25th P Day in Peoria- 48th P Day in Phoenix Mission Elder Jones is getting transferred! Chopping Trees

Transfer Day!
25th P Day in Peoria- 48th P Day in Phoenix Mission
Chopping Trees
 Elder Jones is getting transferred!

Happy Pday, friends and family. Greetings from Peoria. First of all, I
want to wish my mom a HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Love you, Mom! 29 has never
looked so good. :)
It looks like I will be leaving this area after nearly six months of
service here. I will truly miss all those who I have met and been able
to serve. I will never forget those I have met here and I look forward
to seeing them again after my mission. Anyway, it was a pretty great
week. I'm learning a lot out here. One lesson I learned this week is
to wear sunscreen. I'll explain more in the letter. Here was my week!

Monday: Pday. Shopping, haircut, sports. The usual. One of the Elders
got a really bad bloody head from accidentally head butting another
player. Yeah, too much blood for me to handle. Good thing I'm not
going to be a doctor. Haha! So they took him to the ER and we all
kinda left after that. After pday we went finding for a couple hours
and then had a short lesson with Chris at 8. Most of her member
support was out of town this week, so we made it a point to visit her
often to help her stay going.
Temp: 100°F (humid)

Tuesday: Not much really happened during the day. We didn't help at
the thrift shop today so that made for a long, hot finding afternoon.
Probably our highlight of the day was our dinner appointment with the
Hunter family. They have never signed up but have been in the ward for
a while. It was one of those dinners where we just clicked with them.
We talked non stop through the whole dinner and had a great lesson
afterward. Usually there's a little bit of awkward silence during
dinners, but not this one. They loved us and we loved them. Brother
Hunter is one of the funniest guys I've met on my mission so far.
After dinner we met with Leah. We read 2 Nephi 1 with her. I never
really noticed what a powerful chapter that is. Lehi gives such
prophetic counsel to his sons before he dies. I suggest everyone read
it. Our lesson with the Reese family had to cancel. When we got home
for the night at 9, Chris texted us and asked if we wanted
Jack-in-the-Box tacos. We said sure and she brought us 4 tacos! She
was already there and figured we'd probably want some too. They were
pretty good! Haha.
Temp: 104°F

Wednesday: Another average day! Haha. We had a lesson in the
afternoon. After the lesson I really had to use the bathroom so we
went to the church. It was like 4:45 and we didn't have a dinner
scheduled so we were just planning on going home and fixing something.
So we get a call at like 4:55 from the Crump family. He is our bishop
in the Centennial ward. I guess he signed up for dinner but no one
told us...haha. So we biked over to their house and had a great
dinner. Last time we were over there, their dog had brand new,
2-day-old puppies. Now they were about 4-5 weeks old. Oh my gosh. They
are the cutest little things I have ever laid my eyes on. After dinner
we just gathered around on their couch, each of us holding one of the
puppies. Have no fear. I'll send pictures so you can behold their
cuteness. After our dinner appointment, we had a missionary
coordination meeting and then set out on visits with Jake, a ward
missionary. He served in Indiana two years ago. He's also a big video
game nerd, and I sat up front. Let's just say Elder Bradshaw was kinda
bored with our conversation consisting of League of Legends, World of
Warcraft, and other games we played. Yeah we totally nerded out. I
haven't had good game talk for a year!!! It was nice!!
Temp: 103°F

Thursday: Weekly planning. During our planning session we tried to
contact more people in Utah about the mystery referral we received a
couple weeks ago. Still no luck. So we figured out which mission he
lives in, and we called the Utah Salt Lake City West mission office.
Yep. They're supposed to get back with us with info regarding the
referral. We made plans and set goals for the coming week. After
dinner, our lesson cancelled so we set out finding. We got s text from
Chris asking to meet her at Culver's for dessert and a mini lesson. It
went great. And the custard was good as usual. :)
Temp: 102°F

Friday: After studies and lunch we headed to district meeting. It was
a pretty great meeting! Elder Bradshaw and I led a discussion on using
family history as a missionary tool. My goodness, I've given a
discussion in 4/6 of the last district meetings! Share the
love...haha. After the meeting we had a lesson with Pedro. We talked
with him about the Plan of Salvation. It was great getting to meet
with him again. He's always so busy with work and college
preparations. We had dinner with the Dutson family! We had Navajo
tacos!! They were sooooooooooooooo good. Words can't explain their
deliciousness. Then we had banana splits for dessert. I really love
the Dutsons. Haha! They were baptized a little over a year ago, so
they love missionaries. After dinner we had a scripture reading
session with Chris. We read the end part of Jesus's Sermon on the
Mount in Matthew 7. She really enjoyed how Jesus shows His love for
His Father. Then her parents showed us their 3D TV. Crazy.
Temp: 104°F

Saturday: Wow. This was a pretty intense day. We had planned on going
over to Chris's house in the morning to help her move their brick
patio in preparation of their trees being cut down. We ended up going
over there and they were trimming up the tree a little bit. Long story
short, we didn't move the patio. We ended up completely getting the
tree down to its bare branches so the people will just have to tear
out the stump and a couple thick branches. We made a lot of progress
on the tree after being there for a long time. Oh, and we did all of
it with a pole saw, hand saw, and loppers. Elder Bradshaw would saw
off a branch, and I would cut them into smaller branches so we could
load them on the truck and haul them off. This was a huge tree, so we
set to come back Monday morning to finish. That's about all the
excitement that happened Saturday. Haha!
Temp: 109°F

Sunday: Church! It was a great day of worship. The meetings went well,
the talks were great, and we had some people there. After dinner we
had a combined lesson with Britney and the Reese family. My goodness,
it went well!! Britney, Brother and Sister Reese and their daughter
Anna, Bishop Brewer, and his son, we're all there. Plus Elder Bradshaw
and myself. There was a lot of discussion and bonding between all of
us. We discussed the law of tithing, the law of chastity, and
following the prophet. It was great—I think we all learned so much
from each other.
Temp: 109°F

Monday: Not the typical working Mondayy.... Since it's transfer  week,
pday is on Tuesday. We went over to Chris's to finish the tree. This
time without the shade of the tree!! We got it almost completely down.
I'll attach pictures. So earlier in this letter I mentioned how I need
to wear sunscreen. Well, long story short. I forgot. You can see a
distinct line on my face where my backward hat was. (I wore it
backward because my back was to the sun for the majority of the day)
It's pretty funny. So Chris's family fed us breakfast before service,
lunch after we finished, and then her aunt and uncle took us to dinner
at the Cheesecake Factory. I think it's a tradition for them to take
us there before a transfer. Haha! It was delicious as always. We ended
the night with a lesson.
Temp: 105°F


So it was a LONG week! But rewarding. Luckily my sunburn doesn't hurt.
It just looks funny! Thanks for all of the support. I look forward to
another good week. Thanks for the prayers on my behalf. You are all
truly amazing.


Much love,


Elder Jones
Oakwood / Centennial Wards
Arizona Phoenix Mission


Tree before it was cut down
Elder Jones working hard



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This is how you use the shears
taking a break on 2nd day of cutting tree down
The pose



break time
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what kind of Cheesecake to pick?


Culvers

Dinner at Chris's house
always wants a cheeseburger



Puppies at a members home

Elder Jones is in love!

First love Puddinhead!


Kisses


They love each other


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I think Elder Jones likes the crown.



Weekly Selfie

Elder Langi hanging out at church on P day



Elder Jones's favorite Tostadas!

THe last dinner at Chris's house

Bishop working of the remains of the tree








Tuesday, July 21, 2015

24th P day in Peoria- 47th P day in Phoenix Mission-- HUMIDITY!

HUMIDITY!
24th P day in Peoria- 47th P day in Phoenix Mission-

Hello, family and friends. This week has been pretty great. Lots of
cool things happened. Plus, it was pretty humid! Here was my week!

Monday: Pday! After shopping and laundry we had a zone activity at the
stake center. We played sports. We played a game called speedball
which is like my favorite game ever! It's like a mix between soccer
and basketball! I'm not very good at it but it was fun nonetheless. :)
Then we played some basketball. After pday we went and taught a lesson
about Preach My Gospel to an active family. It was super great! We got
to know them and built trust with them. They even testified to other
members that we're great to have over. Mission accomplished! After
that we taught a lesson to Chris. We got a reassignment on our iPad of
someone who is already a progressing investigator! Pretty cool! :)
Temp: 108°F

Tuesday: We went with the zone leaders to Eve's Treasures to
volunteer. We sorted books for a little while then tried to match
Tupperware containers to their lids. That was kinda impossible. We
played a game where we had to pin a clothespin on someone in the
store. The person who lost had to buy the 4 of us a Polar Pop (44oz
soda). I couldn't get myself to pin a stranger as a missionary while
volunteering, so I bought everyone soda. Worth it, haha. With my luck
I would have gotten caught and we wouldn't be able to go back there.
We had KFC for dinner from a member. It wasn't very good...it was
incredibly greasy. After dinner we had a lesson with Leah and a lesson
with the Reese family. We taught them about the Plan of Salvation .
Their spirit is so strong.
Temp: 108°F

Wednesday: Went to Eves Treasures again. This time we helped their
moving crew clean out two storage units. It took a while and it was
really hot. We went home, showered, and had a lesson with someone.
Brother Gonzalez took us to a Hawaiian BBQ restaurant. We had our
coordination meeting then a meeting with the elders quorum presidency.
Turns out our new reassignment doesn't exist. So we're trying to get
in contact with them.
Temp: 104°F

Thursday: Weekly planning. Had a lesson with Chris after. It was super
good. We gave Chris a short lesson and gave her a blessing. That's
about it.
Temp: 106°F

Friday: Zone conference! We went to Surprise and had a great meeting.
We got there early to help people clean their cars for the vehicle
inspection. I was talking to Elder Langi for the majority of the time.
I found out that he wears a size 20 shoe. Dang. That's way bigger than
my size 9. So for dinner a member texted us during the meeting and
said they can't have us over, but they'd bring us a Papa John's pizza.
We gave them our request and they showed up with a Papa Murphy's
pizza. They come uncooked. We dont have an oven....haha. So the zone
leaders picked us up and let us use theirs. Then we went out finding
for the night.
Temp: 100°F

Saturday: RAAAAIN! With rain comes humidity...so we didn't have any
daytime appointments so Elder Bradshaw and I went to get him a new
helmet. His is falling apart. So we went into the bike shop and the
owner's friend was there. Apparently he has a son on a mission and an
RM son. So he paid for his helmet. It was pretty cool! We were out
biking for the rest of the afternoon. Chris took us to dinner at 4:30
because our dinner fell through. There was a bad storm and dust storm
coming so we went early. We ate and then went back to her house and
watched the Joseph Smith movie with her. It was cool to see her feel
the Spirit from hearing about the life of the Prophet Joseph. It was a
spectacular experience.
Temp: 100°F

Sunday: Super nice. We had ward council which went well. Chris came to
Oakwood ward because she couldn't make the later time. So we sat with
her in the comfy seats. :) We gave a mini lesson to the Oakwood Young
women over the Book of Mormon. It was weird being in young women
class. Hahaha. We set up an appointment with a lady named Jasmine who
has been coming to church with her family. She isn't a member. So we
should have a new investigator next week! Apparently she's super
prepared and ready for the Gospel. Had dinner with a member family,
and taught Britney about the 10 commandments and the Word of Wisdom.
She received it really well.
Temp: 97°F


So that was my week! It was really great. Sorry this email is late.
We've done a lot of stuff today. I hope you all have a wonderful week.
Love you all!! :)

Much love,

Elder Jones
Oakwood / Centennial Wards
Arizona Phoenix Mission



Elder Jones w/ Elders in his Zone

Sis Griffin Talking to Elders

lunch

lunch

group

group


singing Happy Birthday

Elder Jones singing Happy Birthday in Korean thanks to Elder Jeong

Elder Jones still singing

Multi Zone Conference- Elder Jones is easy to find with his red flower tie in the middle

Zone picture from 2 weeks ago.
Back row: (Left to right) Elders Newcomb, Langi, Goehring, Bradshaw,
Melsen, Bunn, Langdon, McCullough, Safford. Front row: Elders Davis,
Earl, Weston, Wolfgramm, Owens, Gonzales, Chidester, Jones, Manzano.

I Love Cheezits!

Cool looking VET

Selfie in the cool helment



weekly selfie


Elder Jones and Puddinhead
Elder Jones' new profile picture


Elder Canny and me! previous ZL now AP