Last week at the CCM!

Thank you so much for the emails this week :) Okay. I was over here belly laughing a little bit when I saw those pictures of Jake hahahahhahahahhaaha. Oh man...classic! (Jake is our family dog that my brothers dressed up for a bit). Sounds like the family reunion and Lagoon and all of those events were so much fun! I am so glad you were able to spend time with family :) Yay Brayden! He is going to have a great time, I just know it. I feel so bad because I get a ton of mass emails from relatives and my friends on missions and I don’t have time to read them! Would you be able to give me highlights of the missionaries? Unless it is a personal email specifically to me I don´t have time to read them. Thank you.

The Fourth of July here was so fun! The kitchen staff made sure we had plenty of bbq chicken, fries, hamburgers, blueberries, mac and cheese, AND APPLE PIE WITH VANILLA ICE CREAM. They were so nice and sweet to us. Most of the American missionaries wore red, white, and blue, and our teachers let us say the Pledge of Allegiance and sing the National Anthem. During lunch we all broke out in song with the National Anthem again and all of the Latinos were taking videos and cheering for us :) They are so nice!!

This is my last email to you from the CCM. I cannot believe it. I guess when I think back to that first day in the airport it feels like a long time ago but really time has moved by so quickly here. I will be sad to say goodbye to my teachers and district but I am SO EXCITED to meet the Stutzneggers and my new district and zone! It´s exciting!

During a lesson with a woman this week we talked about the our Heavenly Father’s Law of Chastity and the woman we were teaching was asking us more about modesty in clothing styles. I explained why we dress modestly and during part of the conversation I explained that our shirts as missionaries cover our “hombres” (men) instead of “hombros” (shoulders); she just laughed and laughed and laughed at me :) Haha whoops! There will be many more of those to come I´m sure, but maybe not as many as Hmong speaking cousin Brayden haha :) I finally gave a talk in Sacrament Meeting at Church this last Sunday. When I was done the Branch President, Presidente Ruiz, said that my Español is muy claro and very nice to listen to. He also said that he is very glad that he is not an American missionary serving in Mexico City because that would be super difficult. I am excited and will be just fine. I appreciated the compliment a lot. I still have trouble with conjugating but I have the accent down pretty well I think. Then again, this is still the CCM...sssssooooo I could be way off :)

I feel like as soon as I log off I will remember something that I wanted to tell you! Ahh I´m sorry, there is just so much to tell! I am writing in my journal every day though. If possible, you should try to save my emails.

By the way, the middle district that was in that picture of us on the Fourth of July (see last week’s blog) all left last week. The one in the middle with long lighter brown hair is Hermana Hale and is serving in the Nevada Reno Mission :) She is awesome! The tall skinny blonde Elder is Elder Hebertson and is in Sister Anderson´s mission in New Jersey. We have a new zone now (a zone is a group of missionaries that serve in the same geographic area in a mission). One of the Hermanas is also reporting to the Nevada Reno mission...Hermana Gratten or Gatten I think. My group is the only one staying in Mexico. Most American missionaries here are going back to the States. We watched President Boyd K. Packer´s funeral on Friday via satellite and I felt the Spirit very strongly (he was a member of the Church’s Quorum of Twelve Apostles). Heavenly Father’s Plan of Happiness for us is real.

I love you all so much. I love being a missionary so much. I love my Savior and His Gospel so much.

Okay I need to go now but hope you enjoy the pics that I sent. I love you so much. I have a meeting later this afternoon about travel plans and such and will be emailing you again probably this Saturday about all of that. Until then, have a great week!

Matthew and Jackson, I love you guys and miss being able to hang out with you. I have the two best bros in the whole world. Have a fun summer :)

Love, Hermana Jones

Just some pics of our cute little casa. The top picture is the front room where we chill sometimes before bed.  The bottom picture is the hallway leading away from my room to the laundry room, and kitchen (which we don't need to use it because we eat meals at the cafeteria).

Our bedroom! My bunk is the bottom one on the left and Hermana Clark is above me. Hermana Guerlain and Hermana Royce are on the right. The bathroom is on the right. My bunk is closest to the hallway door. The four of us are in one room, Hermana Jones and Hermana Wolferts are in the one next door, Hermana Garner and Hermana Crichton (pronounced Cry-ton) are in the next bedroom. There is a bedroom across from us that is now empty since the 3 Hermanas in that room left yesterday. There has been one other empty bedroom during our stay as well. The four of us in our room have really bonded :)

Our little mini BYU reunion at the CCM! From left to right -- Elder Falk going to Florida Fort Lauterdale, Hermana Palmer my next door neighbor on our floor in Stover Hall who has been in the Mexico Reynosa mission for a week now, Hermana Taylor who lived down the hall from me and is going to California San Jose (both of these girls are two of my favorites from BYU), then me, leaving with Elder Falk and Hermana Taylor next week, and Elder Scholes, who left for the Michigan Detroit Mission yesterday and was one of my home teachers. I have met and seen others from BYU while being here and it is so fun to serve with them!

The many adventures of Hermana Jones and Hermana Garner. Aaaahhhhhhh I love her so much! The other night after a rough day she gave me a note of encouragement. It was exactly what I needed. She is amazing.

Our two mile run this morning. Companionship goals!

The sandcastle that Hermana Royce built for me :)

Missionaries leaving the CCM and going to the Mexico City Southeast Mission in one week! Hermana Clark (top right in dark shirt) will be going to another part of Mexico :(