Elder Kevin Jones: Transfers and Bumpercars --51st week on mission, 49th Week in Phoenix Mission, 1st week in Glendale

Transfers and Bumpercars -
-51st week on mission, 49th Week in Phoenix Mission, 1st week in Glendale

Hello, friends and family! I am no longer in Peoria. I was transferred
to a new area and got a new companion. I already miss Peoria and my
past companion, but I am looking forward to working in my new area! I
am now serving in the Glendale zone, Black Canyon Ward. However, my
address is Phoenix. This area is crazy busy. It is a more humble area
too. And when I say "more humble", it's (mostly) pretty dang poor. But
that's okay! I've already met some great people here. My companion is
Elder Thaut (pronounced "shout" but with a T) and he's from Graham,
Washington. He is 23 and has been out for 6 months. He played League
of Legends and other games back home just like me. We're getting along
great and teaching well together. Here was my week!

Tuesday: I packed and said my goodbyes to members and missionaries. We
taught Leah. That's about it! Pretty sad day.
Temp: 105°F

Wednesday: We had our transfer meeting. Brother Wincek drove us to the
transfer meeting. This transfer we had our normal meeting where we all
got our new companions, but the WHOLE mission came to transfers,
regardless of whether or not we were getting transferred. But I got
transferred. Like I mentioned earlier I'm in Glendale with Elder
Thaut. Still on a bike. Yay! I'm living with two other elders, Elder
Rodriguez and Elder Clough. I love those elders. We all connect pretty
well. After the transfer meeting we had lunch and then we stayed for
the rest of the day for a mission conference with some guest speakers.
It was a pretty busy day. We then went back to our areas. We literally
had to run in, put my suitcases down, and speed off to our dinner
appointment, then we had a baptismal interview for a guy named Mike
who will be baptized on August 8. We then went out with a member to do
some visits. We had an appointment, but it fell through. As we were
walking through the apartment complex, we hear someone say, "Hey, you
got a pamphlet for me?" And so we gave him a Restoration pamphlet and
talked to him about eternal families and how the gospel blesses
families. His name is Paul. He seemed very interested and invited us
to come back to teach him and his wife. We then went on a couple more
visits, without much luck.
Temp: 104°F

Thursday: Weekly planning. It's weird setting weekly goals that would
be hard to hit in a couple months in Peoria. We also went to the store
because we have been so busy since transfers. After planning, we
taught a super solid recent convert, Brother Gomez. We went out
finding and talked to a couple people. People here are usually pretty
open if they answer the door. Haha!
Temp: 104°F

Friday: Friday, was pretty bad haha. It started great, though! We
taught a recent convert named Leonard before district meeting. He is
super black, but he's from Haiti! He speaks Creole, which is basically
just Haitian French. We have a member who went to Haiti on his mission
and speaks Creole, so we met at his house. We reviewed the Restoration
with him and watched the Restoration video in French with English
subtitles. It was a great lesson. We then went to our district
meeting. We had lunch and went out for an hour or so. We had dinner
with some members and then had a pretty weird lesson with a guy named
Jesse. He's a member who wants to come back to church. After that
lesson as we were leaving, Elder Thaut got a flat tire. We were almost
4 miles away from home. So we walked. And walked. And walked. Aaaaand
walked. Our other 3 lessons cancelled. Oh, and it was raining. So we
walked 4 miles home in the rain, through the ghetto, at night. It was
pretty fun. Then some drunk people in our apartment's parking lot
wanted to bash with us. Not havin that. So we went inside. Crazy
night, haha.
Temp: 109°F

Saturday: After studied we went to Hermana Contreras's home to eat
lunch. We have lunch with her every Saturday with the Spanish elders
and the zone leaders. We went to the bike shop to get Elder Thaut a
new tube, and as we were leaving SOMEONE SLAMMED INTO THE BACK OF OUR
CAR AND REAR ENDED US! This guy was right on our bumper while we were
driving and Elder Rodriguez had to stop pretty fast and we heard the
screech of the tires, and BAM! He hit us, and he pulled into a parking
lot, we followed, and he turned around and drove off. Hahaha! We
thought our car was going to be pretty damaged because he hit us kinda
hard, but there was a tiny scratch on our bumper. And none of us were
hurt. The Lord protects His missionaries. That's for sure. We had a
solid lesson with a new investigator named Elaine who we committed to
be baptized when she receives an answer. It was a great lesson. Then
we ended the night with a lesson with Kina & Jesse, who are a
part-member family. Pretty sure they were high but it was a good
lesson. Hahaha! Three lessons cancelled, so we also knocked on some
doors.
Temp: 109°F

Sunday: Another busy, successful day. My first Sunday in this area!
It's weird covering only one ward. I got to meet the members and talk
to them. It was cool! I said the opening prayer during sacrament
meeting, and after the meeting, the young women's president came up to
me and said, "Are you 14 years old?!" Sigh....no. I'm almost 20..I
haven't gotten that one in a while. After church and ward council we
went home for an hour then headed to dinner with the Barton family,
who live in one of the few nice areas. Their kids are a riot. We had a
good time with their family! After dinner we met with a recent convert
who is really young but on death's bed. She has 4 types of cancer and
is in her last days, but she is super strong. Her testimony is
impeccable. We gave her the sacrament and shared with her about the
Gospel of Jesus Christ. It was a great lesson. Then the miracles
happened. We set out finding around 7:30 after the lesson. We biked to
the most sketchy part of our area (at night) and knocked on a door
looking for a lady named Kathy. A lady opened up. It wasn't Kathy, but
she told us who she was and that she's a member and has been waiting
for someone to tell her where the church is and she wants to go back.
We got her info and gave her ours, and we're going to get her records
transferred into our ward. She was so happy to talk to us. The Spirit
is real. But that's not all. We knocked on another door in a SUPER
sketchy complex looking for a guy named Samuel. He wasn't there, but a
lady answered and we talked to her. Then her friend walked outside.
This is how the conversation went.
"Hey, guys. I'm Michael. Are y'all Latter-day Saints?"
"Yeah"
"Oh cool, so what's the difference between you guys and Christians?"
"Well, we are Christian in every aspect of the word. We believe in
Christ as our Savior, and that through Him, we can be clean from sin.
We also believe in a loving God."
"Oh cool! Do y'all believe in baptism?"
"Yes, we do. By immersion."
"Well, I've been looking for a church...how can I be baptized?"

So we explained to him how he could make that happen. We wants us to
come by and begin teaching him. Then as we were leaving, their
neighbors came out and talked to us. He's a member and wants to come
back too!!! All in this one little sketchy complex that permanently
smells like weed and booze. This proves that there are people
everywhere who are being prepared to hear His gospel. I've seen
miracles in these few days I've been here.
Temp: 108°F

Thanks for all of the support. Keep praying! I love my new area,
companion, and apartmentship. I hope you all have a great week. Love
ya!

Much love,

Elder Jones
Black Canyon Ward
Arizona Phoenix Mission