Wednesday, July 15, 2015

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!"

BOOKED!
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



Zone Selfie

Elder McCullough and Elder Safford (ZL).
"Prom pose"

Elder Goehring and me.
He was in drumline as a snare drummer too!

Elder Langi and Safford. Swapped suit coats.



Sunday, July 12, 2015

Independence & Mustangs 22nd P day in Peoria, 45th P day in Phoenix Mission

Independence & Mustangs  22nd P day in Peoria, 45th P day in Phoenix Mission

Hello, family and friends! Just a disclaimer: my iPad is absolutely
stupid today. Let me tell you my situation. We, as missionaries are
allowed to receive emails throughout the week, we just can't respond
until pday. All through the week I received emails from friends,
family, etc.. I even received an email at 9:55 this morning. As a
missionary, we can begin emailing & doing pday activities starting at
10:00. Well, now that it is way past 10, I still haven't received any
emails. Not because people aren't sending them, but because for some
weird reason I am not receiving any emails that people are sending. So
I apologize if I don't respond to your emails this week. My iPad hates
me and doesn't want me to communicate with anyone. Rant over. Here was
my week!!

Monday: Pday. We went to SkyZone which is one of those places with a
bunch of trampolines as the floor. It was pretty dang fun! Haha. Elder
Bunn, one of our zone leaders, landed on his neck and hurt himself. He
had to sit out for the rest of the time. He always gets hurt when we
play sports or do activities like this. We went to the Moore's for the
rest of pday and got haircuts and ate lunch. We talked with them for a
long time. They're a great family. Chris and her aunt & uncle took us
to dinner at Texas Roadhouse. It was great. Then had a short lesson
with Chris. We exchanged at the end of the day and I went with Elder
Weston to his area. There was a cool lightning storm so we slept with
the blinds open and watched the sky's light show until we fell asleep.
Utah people are so entertained by storms. It's funny.
Temp: 109°F

Tuesday: OLD PEOPLE. I was on an exchange with Elder Weston and we
spent the whole day in Sun City, which is a retirement community. You
have to be 55+ to live there. So, everyone we visited/taught was old.
(No one lives there at 55. They're all like 75+). We taught an
investigator named Dana who will be baptized this week! She's in her
70's. She's kinda weird but really solid. We then taught a blind
less-active member. Elder Weston took me to their church building.
It's super awesome. It used to be a bank and the library is the old
vault! The walls are super hard. We had dinner at a sketchy Chinese
buffet with a member. I'm surprised I didn't get sick. For real. Had a
lesson with a returning excommunicated member, and then another active
family. Elder Weston and I bonded pretty hardcore haha. Best exchange
ever!
Temp: 110°F (humid)

Wednesday: Had lunch with the some elders in our district and then
went to the thrift shop to volunteer. It was alright, as always haha.
I got a package and put a big dent in the candy. :) Had a lesson with
a lady and then went to dinner with the Hancock family. Set up a
service project to help them! We had a coordination meeting and then
Brother Wincek took us to visit Darin, a former investigator. I
haven't seen him since like April. He was there and is looking a lot
better than usual! He said he wants to start meeting with us again
which is cool. :)
Temp: 102°F

Thursday: Weekly planning. Chris took us to dinner because ours fell
through and then we had a lesson with her at the restaurant. It went
really well.
Temp: 106°F

Friday: BUSY DAY. We got up at 5:30am and got ready for a service
project at the Hancocks' at 6:30am. We spent about an hour helping them
clear some branches that had fallen in their pasture. The only catch
is that the branches had like 3-inch long thorns all over them.
Everything here in Arizona wants to kill you haha. We piled all of the
branches up and burned them. That was the fun part!! After that we
headed over to a new family's home to help them move in. Other members
came too. They are an AWESOME family. After we unloaded their truck
and everyone else left, we gave Brother Jenson (the dad of the new
family) a blessing. His back has been hurting for a while. We helped
them put their bed together and they took us for brunch at
Chick-fil-a! It was pretty good. Oh. And they took us in their
6-day-old 2015 V8, supercharged, 6-speed manual, 5.0L Mustang. It is a
monster. (Be jealous, Shurtleff.) We then showered and had a good
district meeting. Then studied. Had a great lesson with Britney in the
evening on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She's fantastic.
Temp: 108°F

Saturday: Independence Day! We went to the Oakwood Ward breakfast and
then studied. Chris took us to Which Wich for the holiday lunch! It
was pretty delicious. We wore our American flag ties too! I'm pretty
sure we got complimented on our ties like a million and one times
today. We had to be in by 6 so we played sports with other
missionaries at the stake center until our ward party at 8. We watched
fireworks and had root beer floats with members of the Centennial
Ward. It was a blast.
Temp: 104°F

Sunday: Church. After church we had dinner with a kinda weird family,
but it was good. We then had a lesson with Chris about the importance
of prayer and God's love. It was a great lesson. She gave us some
leftover ribs sooooo that's always a plus. :)
Temp: 107°F


That was my week. Again, sorry if I don't respond to your emails
today. I'll probably get them all the second I can't respond at 6pm.
That seems to be how it works. Love you all! Have a great week!!


Much love,


Elder Jones
Oakwood / Centennial Wards
Arizona Phoenix Mission


PS.  The high yesterday was only 100°F and it was soooo nice. No lie, I
ACTUALLY saw someone jogging in a hoodie before church when it was
90°F. People here are insane


Again- Thanks to Chris for sending me some great Pictures of Elders Jones and Bradshaw this week.


Biking

biking

great smile

being ornery

Elder jones answered right and got a cookie?

weekly selfie

more biking

Elder Bradshaw's turn with PuddinHead

Happy 4th of July

Selfie on bike w/ Bradshaw photobomb!

Happy 4th of July

Hangin' w/ the Peoria "homies" Police Officers

Flag waving

concentration

Will he beat it?

Lesson in the park

Thursday, July 2, 2015

21st P day in Peoria, 44th P day in Phoenix Mission Puzzles, Breakfast, and Rainbows!

Sky

Weekly Selfie

puzzle done on study breaks

Elder Bradshaw isn't happy since Elder Jones id holding PuddinHead

Companions- Elders Bradshaw & Jones

Elder Bradshaw's turn

Party!

my note to Elder jones from the beach
Elders Jones & Bradshaw


Elder Jones

Calling to the Wind God

Great Twosom

Dust Storm

Dust storm

It is HOT!
Are YOU on the right track?
Sweet Sunset with Elder Jones Silhouette
21st P day in Peoria,  44th P day in Phoenix Mission  Puzzles, Breakfast, and Rainbows!

Hello, family and friends! I hope all is well for you. Peoria, Arizona
is still pretty dang hot but it's worth it. Being on the Lord's errand
is an honor. This week has been pretty normal, but that doesn't mean
it was bad! :) here was my week:

Monday: The normal Pday. We Went shopping and went to Ross. Then we
went and played sports at the stake center. After pday Chris took us
to Culver's. We answered a lot of her questions and helped her
understand some of the doctrine of the Spirit. I feel it helped her a
lot.
Temp: 108°F

Tuesday: We had a great day at Eve's Treasures, the thrift shop. We
spent the whole two hours rearranging the "incoming clothes" section.
That's a fancy way of saying, "hundreds of bags of clothes piled up in
a corner about 10 feet high." It was a daunting task, but we
accomplished it! We got the clothes reorganized. Then we helped the
zone leaders with books. We had dinner with the Lloyd family and then
had a great lesson with Leah. We read with her out of the Book of
Mormon. Sadly, the Reese family had to cancel their lesson.
Temp: 112°F

Wednesday: We stopped by Chris's house after studies to help her move
some stuff. We moved tables and chairs around her back patio in
preparation for a storm that never came, haha. She fed us lunch and we
talked for a little while. After that we met a lady for a lesson and
then headed to dinner. They fed us well! It was the first time I've
had breakfast for dinner on my mission. We ate with the Dutsons, a
recent convert family in our area. It was everything—pancakes, French
toast, waffles, sausage, bacon, eggs, toast....EVERYTHING! Plus orange
juice! It was amazing. They always feed us well. After dinner we went
out finding. Not much luck.
Temp: 111°F

Thursday: Weekly planning. We found a jigsaw puzzle on our shelf so we
began putting that together during our breaks. It was a good way to
relax. EVEN THOUGH IT WAS SUPER STRESSFUL because I'm super impatient
with puzzles. Haha. After planning we had dinner at home. Some members
brought us Barro's pizza. Had an impromptu lesson with Chris then went
out finding.
Temp: 109°F

Friday: We had a super good district meeting. I gave a discussion on
using the harder parts of the day to be productive. Talking with
everyone is the best way to do that. I'm super bad at it but we're
trying to do better. President Juchau, in the mission presidency, was
there and he took us home in his brand new 2016 Audi A6. It was
soooooooooooooo cool. We had dinner with the Moore's and their son
David just got home from his mission. He's awesome. He asked us if we
had a lot of investigators and we told him not really at the moment.
He told us, "That will change." And so we're pretty excited about
that. After dinner we had a lesson with Britney about faith. Her
spirit is still tangible. It's amazing.
Temp: 109°F

Saturday: Pedro never showed up for our lesson, so that was kinda
lame. After the failed lesson attempt we went out finding. Finally hit
dinner and she wasn't even there haha. I guess out appointment forgot.
So Chris and her parents fed us fried chicken. It was great! We talked
with Chris for a little bit afterward because our night was pushed so
far back....I hate when things fall through because it puts a halt on
the rest of your night. It was a good meeting, though. There was a
dust storm warning and we saw the dust cloud rolling in!! It was
SWEET! Not as cool as the one I saw last September, but pretty dang
cool. I'll attach pictures.
Temp: 109°F

Sunday: Church. We had ward conference in Oakwood ward and David Moore
gave his homecoming talk. It was spectacular. He is such a good kid
and I am so psyched to have him in the ward mission. We had dinner and
went out finding at night for a little while.
Temp: 111°F


That was my week. I have a lot of pictures so I'll attach those
(probably in separate emails.) I love you all and hope your week was
great and your coming week will be great. I appreciate all of your
prayers on my behalf. I love y'all!


Much love,


Elder Jones
Oakwood / Centennial Wards
Arizona Phoenix Mission


Sky!


Elder Jones after pigging out at dinner

Member W/Elder Jones




Companions