I decided to serve a mission one early morning in Seminary.

Buenas tardes! Not a lot of crazy stuff has happened this last week but I will address a few questions that have come up. First of all, I apologize for not ever telling the story about the dead man. Honestly I thought I had. It's kind of sad really. The sweet woman who lives across the street from us was taking care of her 74 year old son whose wife had passed away maybe 8 months ago and he was in deep depression. We tried talking to him a few different times but he had completely shut off. Then one day near the beginning of February (I was still with Hermana Carrasco) we were told that he had passed away so we rushed over to the house to see if we could visit his mother. When we walked in, his body was still there on the bed. It was covered with a sheet so I didn't actually see him but it was still a new experience (I guess you could call it that) for me. We spent some time there singing with his sweet mother, poor thing. So that's that.

Last week I was able to give talks in both Wards that I serve. In the MC Ward my talk was how to develop Christlike attributes to be strong members of the Gospel. I began by telling about how Grandpa Wayne came for me every single morning on his bike without fail to walk me to the bus stop and how I could depend on him to be there for me and how we would talk and laugh together. Looking back on it now, I realize how much my testimony of the Gospel was strengthened by hearing that of my grandfather and can also see that him picking me up every morning like that was an act of pure love. I explained that in order to become more like somebody it is important to spend time with them and "walk" with them so to speak. I then related it to the walk two disciples had with Christ on the Road to Emmaus (Emaús) and how the disciples didn't want Him to leave them and could later recognize the love that the Savior had for them. It went well and the members enjoyed hearing about Grandpa's bigote - mustache :) In the J Ward I took the opportunity to talk about my gratitude for Seminary after two teens in the Ward talked and shared their feelings about Seminary. I shared with the congregation two of many important things happened in my life because of Seminary. One was that I received a definite answer to prayers and decided to serve a mission one early morning in Seminary. Another was that my awesome friend Daniel S. came to Seminary with us every morning senior year and was baptized the following summer after graduation. I then related that to my assigned topic -- missionary work -- and how we experience true joy through the Gospel. I shared a few verses from Alma 5 with them and invited them to evaluate their lives and, as President Uchtdorf (one of our Church leaders) has mentioned, to see if the Gospel is really working for them. It is important that our testimony of the Gospel is burning brightly if we are to help others. It was fun sharing a few thoughts with the members; they are so wonderful and take great care of us.

Sorry for the short letter today. I think we will be video chatting on Mother’s Day sometime in the afternoon but when we have set plans I will let you know. I cannot wait to see you all :)

Love Hermana Jones

Making blue corn tortiallas.

Making chiles rellenos.