Bye bye: Transfers 24th Pday in Phoenix Misson-

Hello everyone! If you couldn't tell by the title of this email, it's
transfer week and I'm getting transferred. With that being said, I
don't have much time to send a long weekly email. I loved this area,
but I'm excited to have further opportunities. I have to go pack now
but I really love you all and can't wait to update y'all more next
week. Send me your updates though! Love you!

Mail things to the mission office for about a week.

Elder Jones

Note from Momma Jones:
Thanks to my detectives in the Phoenix area I have posted Elder Jones new address.  He is in the Peoria/ Peoria North Zone.  He is in the Centennial, and Oakwood wards, I think. He didn't move very far!  Dana said he could have ridden his bike there!  His companion is Elder Flynn.  They trained together at the MTC.  Elder Jones is a senior companion now. 
I sent him his practice pad and sticks a few weeks ago and said he was driving  Elder Shurtleff crazy.  I told Elder Jones that Elder Shurtleff may have requested he be transferred!  
Although Elder Jones sent no pictures I have scoured the Arizona mission Blog and found a few from the transfer meeting, and one Sis Simon posted.
I hope we have more info and pictures Monday.

Elder Jones with his 2 companions he has had in Phoenix, Elder Jeong and Elder Shurtleff.

Elder Shurtleff, Elder Jones and Elder Jensen .  Elders Jensen and Shurtleff were MTC companions

Elder Jones and his first companion Elder Jeong and a mystery Elder.

Elders getting lunch at transfer meeting

Sister Simon and Elder Jones as he is leaving her home.

The Super Bowl: Away From Home Edition - 23rd P Day in Phoenix

GO PATRIOTS!!!! This week was really pretty good. I'll go through my journal to review the specifics. I'll be randomly putting in, "GO PATRIOTS!!!" into my letter, so yeah. Not being able to watch the Game (capitalized because it SHOULD BE.) was pretty rough, but it was equally as exciting to hear about it from home. GO PATRIOTS!!!

Monday: It was P-day, and it went by suuuuuper fast. Like, the fastest one so far. It was basically a do-nothing-and-email P-day. I got a good nap in and made some killer brownies. They were delicious! After P-day we had a lesson with the Evans family. It was awesome! A priest named Drew came with us. He just turned 16 so it's cool to have him come out with us. He met us at their complex. He rode his longboard in his shirt and tie. What a cool kid haha. We also had one other lesson with Eliza, who is the 10 year-old. She really wants to get baptized!!

Temp: 68 F (rainy)

Tuesday: We had zone conference! It was great. Three zones got together to have a conference with the mission presidency and the assistants. They focused a lot on setting goals and planning, which are my two weak spots. No matter how many discussions I get on them, I just don't plan very well! It's something I'm working on, though. I hope I'll be at least a decent planner by the end of my mission haha! In addition to the spiritual feast, I got to catch up with some missionary friends who are in different zones. Sadly, Elder Jeong wasn't at my zone conference....yeah we probably won't see each other very much since he's up in Flagstaff and I'm in the Valley. Joe had to cancel our lesson with him. Pretty average day.

Temp: 73 F

Wednesday: The day was great until I screwed up my left index finger. I'll get to that in a second. We had a good lesson with Joe and committed him to stop smoking by February 14 and to be baptized on Feb 28. Hopefully that will go well. He's having doubts that he will be able to quit, but we keep reassuring him that it is possible through the Atonement. We gave him a blessing to help with his addiction recovery. So after coordination meeting, we heard someone playing basketball. We opened the gym doors and it was a less-active 16 year-old kid who is part of the Evans family. He was playing by himself and we had a couple minutes, so we played a quick game of two-on-two. I reached for the ball and it jammed my finger hard. It seriously felt like I broke it for like two days. It was all bent weird and purple. Luckily it wasn't broken because it felt a lot better a couple days ago. I guess that's what I get for playing basketball on a Wednesday haha.

Temp: 76 F

Thursday: We had weekly planning all day. We planned in the mother's room at the church which was a brilliant idea. Those chairs are THE BEST! We planned all through the day and afternoon, and a member took us to Chipotle for dinner. I ate the whole burrito in like five minutes. I was still hungry afterward. To everyone who knows how big those are, yeah, that's pretty impressive. Elder Shurtleff looked over at me and was like, "WOW. That was fast..." Haha. We had exchanges that night with the Zone leaders. I was with Elder Burgoyne. 

Temp: 64 F (rainy)

Friday: I was in the zone leaders' area all day. It was cool because they have a truck! We taught an old guy named Wilbur that morning then went to district meeting. Elder Shurtleff gives great district meetings! A member took us to In-n-Out Burger AND IT WAS SO GOOD. It definitely hit the spot!! I hadn't had it since I was in Utah like two years ago. The truck was super nice and it was cool to bond with Elder Burgoyne since he goes home on Feb 10. I'm gonna miss him!

Temp: 63 F (rainy) GO PATRIOTS!!!

Saturday: We had an open finding day so we knocked on two potential investigators' doors and both 

answered. Neither doors were the people we were looking for, but both said we could come back. It was pretty weird because we hardly ever have any success in that apartment complex. I'm not complaining, though! We got a cool referral for a person who is less-active and her roomate. He isn't a member. They both want us to teach them! They even came to church on Sunday! Pretty sure we saw a land mine on the road...............it was beeping and scary looking. Haha.

Temp: 63 F (rainy)

Sunday: SUPER BOWL SUNDAY! We went to church and after that we taught a less-active member. Since the Super Bowl was in Phoenix, we had to stay in after church and dinner. We met other Elders at the church and played some card games and played hide-and-seek. GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO PPPPPAAAAATTTTRRRRRIIIIIOOOOOTTTTTSSSSSS!!!!!! :) Can y'all tell I'm excited?!?!

Temp: 66 F

Anyway, it was a good week. Mom and Dad, could you send me a Patriots Super Bowl champion shirt when they come out? I would LOOOOVE IT! :D 

Have a great week everyone. :)

Love,

Elder Jones

Kevin's package arrived!  He is happy, hope his companion and Sis Simon don't mind.

Elder Shurtleff found this light-thing after cleaning. He put it on his head. Yep.

The carpet BEFORE it was changed after we moved everything out.

 Elder Syndergaard on exchange

 My poor finger...haha

zone conference 1/15

zone conference 1/15

zone conference 1/15

zone conference 1/15

zone conference 1/15

"Insert Clever Title Here" 22nd P day in Phoenix

Well, it was a pretty fun week! Pretty average, but still good. I'll
give y'all the rundown....

Monday: A very slow day. After P-Day, both of our lessons cancelled
within like 20 seconds of each other. Bummer...and during the day we
basically relaxed and emailed all day. Elder Shurtleff took like a
two-hour nap hahaha.
Temp: 74°F

Tuesday: After studies we had a lesson with a less-active lady who
hadn't been to church in over 25 years. She had found us walking in an
apartment complex and stopped us. (This was a few weeks ago). Anyway,
we ended up giving her a church tour and talking about how things have
changed in 25 years. She was surprised that we did a three hour block
rather than splitting it up throughout the week. Yeah, it's been a
while for her—before my time. She said she felt the Spirit and started
crying while we were talking in the chapel. It was a pretty great
experience. A member took us to lunch at Jersey Mike's Subs. Man! That
place is the bomb! Elder Shurtleff had a district leader meeting that
afternoon so we stayed in for that. After a couple lessons that night
we completely emptied our study room in preparation for the new
carpet. I'll write about that later in the email. Pretty crazy day
haha.
Temp: 75°F

Wednesday: Not much happened today, but what happened was great. First
of all, we didn't have any furniture in our study room because we
moved it all out. Soooo we studied on the floor so that was pretty
fun. Haha. We had a lesson with Joe and it went super well. We brought
the bishop with us and we talked about the word of wisdom. Joe said he
smokes but is willing to give it up. He has smoked since he was 12 so
it will be tough to get him over it. We have faith he can do it! He
asked, "So, are we only allowed to meet once a week...? Or can we meet
twice?" Yeah, needless to say he's solid and we're super excited for
him. It was cool to hear our bishop tell him about how the Lord can
help him overcome his addiction.
Temp: 73°F


Thursday: Weekly planning. While we were planning, the people came
over and installed the new carpet. It looks great! It reminds me of
the church carpet. It's a darker brown color and its low to the ground
and pretty hard. It's a business carpet. It works really well with our
rolling chairs! Plus the new-carpet-smell is hard to beat. We went to
a member's for dinner and they fed us taco soup "for the cold
weather." Yeah, you know you're in Phoenix when 68° is considered cold
weather. Hahaha. We had a meeting and it went well. That's about
it...haha.
Temp: 65°F


Friday: We had district meeting and after that we went to Joe's
apartment to read with him. We ended up answering a lot of questions
about the Book of Mormon and went through the baptismal interview
questions with him. He still has a way to go, but he is still wanting
to do all he can to be baptized on the 14th of February.  We ended up
reading Enos with him and talking about how prayer will help him get
through anything. He prayed at the lesson and said he felt the Spirit.
We had dinner with a family and they said they need some help chopping
wood. Oh yeah. Stay tuned for the next day haha ;)
Temp: 68°F


Saturday: After studies we went and helped Bro. Christian chop wood.
We didn't have an axe, just a sledge hammer and a splitting wedge. So
that was fun haha. The wood was pretty soft and fairly easy to chop.
It was nothing like the eucalyptus wood we "chopped" a few weeks ago
haha. A lesson cancelled but we were able to meet with a new
investigator, Pete. He's Mexican and a full-blown Jesus freak. He's
kinda crazy but it was fun and interesting teaching him the
Restoration. Too bad he's moving in a couple weeks...
Temp: 76°F


Sunday: Joe texted us and said he can't go to church because he's
going with his sister who is in town. He said he would be able to go
to the "What the Heck is a Mormon?" event that was being held that
night. Church was good, about as good as 7 hours of church can get
haha. Joe then texted us and said that his sister bailed on him last
minute so he didn't get to go to any church! Lame! Oh well, he ended
up coming with us to the event. He loved the church tour that happened
and got some more questions answered.
Temp: 73°F

Overall a good week! Met with Joe three times, had some lessons with
less active members, and got a new investigator. Things are going well
and I'm very happy! I'd love to hear from you all. Have a marvelous
week. Stay awesome!

Much love,


Elder Jones

Selfie of the week

new carpet in study room

YES! 21st P Day in Phoenix

Okay so we had a great week!! Our work is paying off! Just read the
rest and find out! Haha. :)
Oh, and I record the high temperature of the day in my journal. I'll
include it in each day just to make everyone jealous! ;)

Monday: After P-Day we had our usual Monday appointments. We had a
lesson with a less-active/returning family. The dad said he wants to
bless the sacrament and the kids to pass. They talked with bishop and
they're gonna make it happen next week! They were sick last Sundayy
which was kinda lame but they'll be there Sunday. It's been cool
being someone who has helped them come back to the Kingdom and begin
their temple journey. We then taught Eliza, the 10 year old daughter
to a less-active member. She's always a handful and a ball of fun
haha. Monday nights are always great! Oh, I got my haircut and they
said it grew over an inch in 5 weeks. Yep, nothing has changed. Haha.
Temp: 70°F

Tuesday: My 5 month mark! It doesn't feel like five months....that's
crazy. We had a great day planned: three investigator lessons.
Unfortunately, all three lessons ended up canceling which was kinda
lame. Brother Meiners took us to Macayo's for dinner. I have decided
that it is my favorite restaurant ever. Haha. It puts Del Rio to
shame!! We visited a potential investigator named Tom that night. He
opened up and we went in and taught about the Book of Mormon and
Joseph smith. He has studied a lot of religious texts and wants to
know more about our religion! We are going back in a couple days.
Possible new investigator there! Oh yeah! Temp: 68°F


Wednesday: No teaching appointments, but we had a couple miracles
happen. Not much happened in the morning, but in the afternoon WE SAW
AN AUDI R8 just driving down Greenway Pkwy. I couldn't control my
excitement! Hahaha. For all who don't know what an Audi R8 is, LOOK IT
UP. It made my week. Haha. Most of the people we visited opened and
talked to us for a little bit, and apparently Quinton is back? I guess
they got back together. So we may have him back. Haha. Joe wasn't
feeling well, so he had to cancel his appointment...STAY TUNED FOR
MORE INFO ON HIM. Temp: 67°F


Thursday: Weekly planning day. We were inside most of the day. Joe
texted us and said he was feeling better, but was having second
thoughts about changing his religion. We got him to let us come by and
talk about it and maybe help strengthen his general faith in Christ.
Obviously, we knew we were going to try and resolve some concerns. We
set up a time for Saturday. We also had a lesson with the family who
knows the Dugdales, the Collins'. They say hello, Dugdales! Haha.
Temp: 71°F


Friday: We had district meeting and Elder Shurtleff killed it. He's a
great DL. After the meeting we went out finding some less-active
members and a lady opened the door and said she's not a member but her
husband is. We asked if we could come by and share a message but they
said they like their church. We left, but felt like we should go
back....so, as crazy as it sounds, we went back and knocked again. We
bore testimony of the truthfulness of the Restoration and that of
eternal families. We could tell she felt the Spirit and she told us to
stop by again soon to talk to her husband and we could see where it
goes. #SpiritualPromptings


Saturday: Probably the best day of my mission so far. We contacted
quite a few people and taught Joe! We taught the Plan of Salvation and
he really connected with the message. He loved it! We were able to
help him resolve his concerns and he is wanting to learn more again.
He is so solid. We set a baptismal date for February 14th for him! We
asked if he'd have plans for Valentine's Day and he just laughed. I
HAD TO MAKE THE JOKE. I said, "At least now you have a .....date." We
all started laughing and he is excited to be baptized. We set up that
a member pick him up for church. We also contacted a tipsy Mexican guy
who was super pumped on Jesus. He invited us into his apartment and we
taught about the Book of Mormon. We gave him one and we're coming back
soon! He's moving to South Phoenix (yikes) on Feb 2nd, but we will send
in the referral.


Sunday: JOE CAME TO CHURCH FOR ALL 3 HOURS AND LOVED IT. He loved it!!
Wants to come back and keep learning. He's coming to a fireside called
"What the Heck is a Mormon?" The Stake President talked to him and he
got a lot more fellowship at church. He loves the people and the
message. Woohoo!! I am so happy for him!

That's my week! Mom, you should probably just mail the
package....sorry. I do request a pack of AA batteries in the
package....I'm out.

Love you all and would love to hear from you all too. :)

Love,

Elder Jones

This is all I got this week for pictures!

Just to comfort? me he said he wasn't carrying his camera with him anymore because he didn't wan it to get stolen.  Well that makes me NOT worry.... NO!

20th P-Day in Phoenix: Finally...

Dear friends and family,

We are finally seeing something happen in our area! Not a ton more,
but still more than usual.

Tuesday: After studies we helped a less-active member chop wood. I got
some pictures, so I'll send some later. Keep in mind this is January
6. We were sweating like crazy. We had a great time though. We chopped
eucalyptus wood, which is like trying to chop rock. It took a long
time to get some decent firewood, but we had fun. The member thought
it was pretty funny watching us try to chop the wood. She was
grateful, though! :) That night we were out finding people and we
knocked on a potential investigator names Joe's door. He opened and we
set up a return appointment for Thursday. This story gets better!

Wednesday: It was 81 degrees and it felt great. I had forgotten what
it was like to sweat while biking. Haha not much happened today, just
a lot of finding. One funny thing that happened was that we were
biking down a road by our house and I saw a familiar piece of paper on
the sidewalk. I stopped and picked it up and it was a Scoopie token
off a Culver's kid's meal! I would recognize that thing anywhere haha.

Thursday: We had our lesson with Joe! We taught him the Restoration
and he really gets it. He said that everything makes sense and he felt
the Spirit as I told him the First Vision. He said he really wants to
know more! He lives with his buddy and he may be interested too! I
really hope so. Another cool thing happened today. We were biking
around and a guy stopped us and prayed with us. He was carrying a case
of beer, but he said he "has prayed with the Elders for years" haha it
was pretty cool. He even prayed really well...


Friday: We had zone meeting. It was pretty great. We got to do some
awesome role plays and just learn how to be better. We can all use it!
Elder Watson, the Elder I have connections with from Wichita, is now
in our zone! I'm super excited because we are pretty dang good
friends. We got to catch up at zone meeting. Not much else happened
today.

Saturday: We had a lesson with a bearded-lady. She is a member. Yeah
it was super awkward but I guess it was good haha. Sister Simon
surprised us with Kfc for dinner because we didn't have a dinner
appointment! Yeah she's pretty awesome. We had missionary coordination
meeting and our new Assistant Ward mission leader was in the mission
presidency with President Taylor and President Beck....he doesn't
really know how to be an assistant, but at least we have some good
input! Haha. :) He's on fire.

Sunday: Church... Haha we had a stake coordination meeting because E.
Shurtleff is the new district leader. I just sat there while all the
other district leaders and our zone leaders talked about our zone. It
was a pretty cool experience. Our stake president is so so so awesome.
It rained from 6pm until Monday morning. It was a cold rain
too....crazy!

So that's about all that happened this week! We're really psyched
about our new investigator, Joe. I hope he's as excited as we are!
Haha. I'd love to hear back from you all! Love and miss you. Still
accepting letters. Elder Shurtleff has been getting more letters than
me! Hahaha. Send them to sister Simons house! If you don't have that
address, get it from my mom! :)

Have a great week!

Much love,

Elder Jones

Service day Elder Jones chopping firewood!!

Elder Shurtleff taking a break.!

 !

What do you do with a BIG shirt?  See how many Elders will fit in it of course!

19th P Day in Phoenix- Hide-and-seek Marathon!

Elder Jeong in Flagstaff, AZ  Kevin says
Jealousy times 10,000.

Hello, everyone! This week was pretty fun but not much went on because
of the New Year holiday. We were in by 6 on New Years Eve, and all day
on New Years. We did, though, have a party! On the 31st, we met some
other Elders at one of the church buildings and we played
hide-and-seek in the dark! It was crazy fun! On New Year's Day we had
the zone leaders come over and we played board games for like three
hours. Then, that night, we got like 8 Elders together and we played
hide-and-seek again. This time we played in a church building that
used to be a Catholic Church. So it was a completely different layout.
It was two stories in some places with a bunch of great hiding places.
We played there until about 9. That was a blast! I ended up being
pretty dang sick that night, though. It was all good by the morning.

We got to meet with a really cool family this past week. They're both
active members, but he is a recent convert and she used to be less
active. Missionaries found them and got him baptized. He has been a
member for under a year and already has the Melchizidek Priesthood.
Their baby has a chromosome disorder and is blind and deaf. They are
wonderful people and she brought the baby to church with all of his
medical equipment. If they can do it, I swear no one has an excuse to
not go to church!

Sad news, Quinton is no longer in our area. His girlfriend kicked him
out and he is basically homeless now. So we are doing a ton of
finding, trying to find new people to teach. Not gonna lie, it's been
rough here lately. The work is going pretty slow but we are pushing
forward. We just got a new Assistant Ward Mission Leader in one of our
wards. His name is President Morris. I say president because he has
been a stake president, and a counselor to three mission presidents.
Yeah. I don't know if he understands how to be an "assistant"
anything, but hopefully he can spark some interest into the Ward
members.

It was 28 degrees the other night, which was the coldest it's been
here for like 20 years or something like that. It was crazy cold. On a
bike, 28 feels like 15. My whole face is numb when we get home at
night haha. Our old zone leader, Elder Jensen, just went home this
past transfer and will probably be engaged in a couple weeks. He's
pretty excited to be home! Haha.

Anyways, I hope everyone had a great New Year! Hopefully things will
pick up here, but we're staying positive regardless! Love you all.

Much love,

Elder Jones

Selfie for the week!