Elder Kevin Jones: 23rd P day in Peoria, 46th P day in Phoenix Mission-- It's Not Worth the Cobbler!

Pretty cool sunset and clouds

Elder Jones says "I'm in trouble!"

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Elder Jones LOVES JARRITOS !

23rd P day in Peoria, 46th P day in Phoenix Mission-- It's Not Worth the Cobbler!

Hello, family and friends! Greetings from Arizona. I have quite a few
pictures to share with y'all this week, so there may be a couple
emails after this with just pictures. Haha. Anyway, we had a really
great week. I was sick for a lot of it, but great nonetheless. Here
was my week!

Monday: Pday. Not much happened. We went shopping for groceries, and came home. That's about it. My email was being dumb so I couldn't really email much. So I took a nap. A good nap. Haha! As we were leaving our apartment after pday to go finding, Chris texted us and told us she wanted to tell us something! So we went over there and she told us how she stood up for the Church when someone was trying to bash with her. We told her that if she wants real answers, go to someone who actually knows what they're talking about. I told her: "You wouldn't go to a Chevy dealer if you have a question about your
Ford, would you?" Just like if someone wants to know about the Catholic faith, he/she wouldn't come ask two Mormon missionaries! Anyway, it was a great thing to hear that Chris stood up for the Church. Being a newer member, sometimes that can be hard. Especially if the person is someone you know and appreciate. Temp: 102°F

Tuesday: We started the day helping Chris's mom move some things from
their front yard to their back yard. They're having one of their trees
in the front yard cut down so we had to move the stuff that was around
the tree. Let me tell you, there was a lot of stuff! It took two hours
and we weren't just dragging our feet. Mary (Chris's mom) let us each
wear a bandana and a straw hat. I feel it helped. She then let us keep
the bandanas so I keep mine in my bike helmet now. We then studied and
had a lesson with a lady at a restaurant. As we were pulling up to
the restaurant, a member saw us and basically threw $20 at us. We
didn't have time to say no. That was very nice of her. We had dinner
with Chris and her parents. Mary made home made tostadas again.
They're probably my favorite thing I've ever had on my mission. Had a
short lesson with Chris then a lesson with the Reese family. They are
doing great. Brother Reese is in the process of preparation to receive
the Melchizedek Priesthood! It's so cool to be a part of his
reactivation and their eternal family! I'm convinced they're one of
the reasons I'm in this area.
Temp: 106°F

Wednesday: Started off pretty bad. I woke up with a terrible migraine.
The whole shebang. Probably the worst one I've had since I've been
out. I slept it off. Since I have to have a lot of darkness when I get
a migraine, Elder Bradshaw was studying in the dark. Brother Alger was
worried because the lights still weren't on....so he called us to make
sure we're okay. Haha! We told him that we weren't just be
disobedient. :) We went to Eve's Treasures and sorted books the whole
time. So that was fun. We had lasagna with a "secret recipe" for
dinner...that secret recipe is bbq sauce. It was surprisingly good.
Haha! We went out on visits with Brother Shipe after dinner. He
understands my migraine problems. He suggested coconut water. Too bad
that stuff is nas-tay.
Temp: 106°F

Thursday: Weekly planning. Used the money those nice members gave us
to have lunch at Culver's. Of course it hit the spot. Even after 5
years I'm still not sick of it! So after planning we had probably the
most interesting dinner ever. I'll explain. We had sloppy joes. Sounds
normal, right? Wrong. So the way they eat them is by taking a bun,
opening it, and putting potato chips on top of the open-face bun, and
then slathering the bun and chips with sloppy joe meat. Then eating it
with a fork. Yeah, I'm totally doing that from now on. :) Not much
else went on that I can remember.
Temp: 100°F

Friday: Zone meeting. We had a few great discussions, mostly on
obedience. President Griffin actually showed up for a little bit of
it. Caught us all off guard haha. The most memorable part of the
meeting was the end. The zone leaders prepared a little object lesson
for us about the Atonement. They had each missionary bring two food
items. Literally any food item. Some food items ranged from pop-tarts,
baked beans, soy sauce, coconut milk, Hot Tamales, canned soup, etc..
The zone leaders also had peach cobbler and ice cream for everyone. So
we each went up and put a food we like, and a food we hate off the
table into the blender. They then blended it all up into a (basically)
liquid. We all then got a bowl of cobbler and ice cream, but there was
a catch. ONE person had to drink the whole blender-full of....liquid
before anyone could eat their cobbler. Elder Langi volunteered, and
said, "this is for you guys." In his thick Tongan accent. He struggled
for a couple sips, then went bottoms up and finished it like a champ.
I got a video of it, and I'll try to send it. :) We came home and then
had dinner with Chris and her aunt and uncle. I got sick from some
undercooked catfish haha. It's okay though! Wasn't too bad.
Temp: 100°F

Saturday: I was pretty messed up in the stomach from the bad fish the
night before. Chris took our pictures in the patrol car as she was
volunteering is morning. The daytime was a blur. That night we had a
wonderful lesson on church, prayer, and scripture study with Britney.
She was out of town last Sunday so she didn't make it to church for
the first time since her baptism. She told us that she felt sooooo bad
for not being able to come. She felt empty. She truly understands the
sacrament and the importance of church. It's so great to see. She is
currently in Alma 32 in the Book of Mormon. She's excited to read it.
Temp: 102°F

Sunday: Another Sunday come and gone. We had a very productive ward
council meeting with the Centennial ward. Lots of action items were
made which is what the meeting is all about! We made it back in time
to hear Brother Wincek speak in the Oakwood ward. He is such a funny
guy. He's kind of a HUGE Star Wars/Indiana Jones/ Star Trek nerd, so
he always puts some flavor into his talks/lessons. So it was a treat
to hear him speak. Then we went about our normal church day, and had
dinner at the other side of our area. Then a lesson with a less-active
sister. She just got back from the hospital because of her medicine
and she is doing MUCH better. She used to be kind of shy, skiddish,
and sad. Now she is alive, happy, and fun to be around! I have never
seen her like this. She's making a lot of progress. :)
Temp: 106°F

That was my week! Hope you all had a good one too. I love you and
never forget that God loves you too! His love is perfect, and His Son
is real. Find Him! :)

Much love,

Elder Jones
Oakwood / Centennial Wards
Arizona Phoenix Mission