We have had people think we are Russian, French, Canadian, Brazilian...that is a first.

Hello! I don't have a lot of time but this has been another great week. We taught a woman named M on her front step. We answered her questions and guided her through the history and scriptures related to the restoration of the Gospel. At the end of the lesson, I felt that I should invite her to be baptized, so I invited her to set a date for baptism on 2 de Julio (July 2) and she accepted! I was really happy to say the least :) We just find so many people to teach. Also a lot of people come up to us on the street and start talking to us. We have had people think that we are Russian, French, Canadian, Brazilian...that is a first. We walk, get rained on, get sunburned through the sunscreen we put on, knock doors, and have a great time. There are also challenges along the way. Nobody that we invited to Church came this week, and we had a few teaching appointments fall through, but we will keep trying. I love you all very very much and was very happy to hear from you and what is going on at home.

Love you!

Hermana Jones

PS New favorite snack - queso oaxaca con salsa chipotle

This is a cool family we are working with. We went to a nice Mother's Day ward activity. R, the woman next to me, was baptized last year and her daughter G is 17 and is not a member currently a member of the Church... that's where we come in ;)

These are the fried "fish bellybuttons"

I LOVE MY NEW AREA

Buenas tardes a todos! First, please forgive me for not writing much over the past two weeks. Last Monday, we had another Zone outing and other things came up that left little time to write. However, I knew that I would be Skyping with you on Mother’s Day. I loved our visit! Also, hello from a new area! Hermana Lambert and I have been transferred from our little mountain pueblas to an area on the west end of the Ixtapaluca Zone where we are covering a large area consisting of another hill. This has been a really great week. I LOVE MY NEW AREA. There are people to contact, doors to knock, hills to climb, combis to hitchhike, a rama (branch, or small Church congregation) to get started, families to teach, and lots of work to do. I am SO happy. Hermana Lambert and I buckled down and got to work Monday night after dropping our stuff off in the apartment (we were a little scared when we walked in but after a few feminine touches it felt more like home haha). The area is puro cerro - "pure hill"- which means we take a lot of combis (taxis) to travel up and down in the FIVE different colonias in our area. Or we just walk. My sweet little calf muscles are not going anywhere any time soon ;) haha just kidding. But yes, I am walking my little socks off. In fact, almost all of them have holes in them now. The area is very very very big. We cover five colonias that are full of houses and apartment buildings. We are working in C, H, F, C, and LR. LR is a fairly new colonia where the people have to "luchar para su terreno" which means they buy a piece of property at a cheaper price to begin with but have to go to government meetings every SUNDAY MORNING at 9 to do community service and earn points back - this makes it somewhat complicated getting people to Church because they can't miss these meetings...and our Ward starts at 8 am :( LR is pure grey cylinder block houses and dirt roads that have no names and Ranchos del Carmen. One time while walking in LR, I broke out in song on the street and sang "Where the Streets Have No Name" by U2 to my companion hehe. The street names in the other colonias are awesome because they are all Aztec names that are super hard to pronounce and we love it! We knocked a lot of doors and met a lot of new people and are making work for ourselves here. We found several families who were very excited to begin learning, and that makes me happy. We also met a sweet 20 year old kid named E who was super excited to receive us. He came totally prepared having read the pamphlet in advance. He began by telling us that he had a few questions and asked "so who is Jose Smith?"- my companion and the member present with us and I all just looked at each other and smiled and we said we could definitely help him with that question. He received the message of La Restauración really well but when we pulled out El Libro de Mormón he got so excited and ate everything up that we said. Before we even committed him to read it he said, "I can't wait to read this. I know it is going to answer my questions. I don't even feel tired now!" (He works in a bakery in El Distrito (Mexico City, Federal District) during the night and tries to get some sleep during the day so he was pretty tired but this woke him right up :) We are also teaching a young couple with 2 little children, a mom and daughter and brother, and a mom and daughter. It feels so good to teach families! This area has a nice mix of my two previous ones because it is big and has more of a city-ish feel but there are families to teach, not just random super-busy single people. My new saying is "lovin it lovin it lovin it! I 3 for the win” :) Hermana Lambert and I are in a district of puros Elderes (all Elders). We all eat together on Saturdays in the home of an awesome lady who was baptized a year ago. We have to travel a little ways to get to our lunch appointments because the Ward boundaries are huge the almost all of the members who live in our area are menos activo (less active in the Gospel at present). 

We played basketball this morning as a district and I enjoyed kicking some trash out there on the court ;) hehe false I kicked no trash whatsoever but the Elders were very nice to let me play and it took me back to the glory days of Church basketball. Hermana Lambert relaxed on the sidelines and watched. We figured it would not be very wise to have her play the game that smashed up her wrist in the first place...not thanks to yours truly (we're going to get that checked out at the doctor tomorrow). Random note - I ate a fried fish bellybutton last night. I didn't even know fish had bellybuttons! Apparently they are on the insides of the fish stomachs. Checked that one off the list. I will try to send a picture next week (I had a ton of letters this week and this is the only email I have time to write today - Mom and Dad please thank both sets of grandparents and my awesome aunts and uncles and Sister M for their wonderful emails that I so appreciate! 

This last little while of my mission I have really enjoyed studying 2 Nefi 2 and 9, two of my favorite chapters in El Libro de Mormón (Book of Mormon), because they talk about how perfect God's plan is and how necessary it is to have a Savior. I invite all who read this letter to take some time and read those two chapters. I know He lives and loves us. Se cuidan mucho y se olvidan que Él les ama perfectamente.

Love,

Hermana Yons (that was how my name was written on the note giving me the assignment to speak in Church in my old area and is often how my name is pronounced).

PS Mom and Dad, thank you for your letters this week as always :) Love you with all my heart and it was awesome to Skype on Mother’s Day...when the connection was working ;)

Parent Note: We had a great visit with little Hermana “Yons” on Mother’s Day via Skype. We thought we would include some of the information that she shared with us in a little side note. She is her same wonderful self and loves her mission life. She told us that she and Hermana Lambert were being transferred down the mountain. Apparently, they went from the farthest point away in the mission from “our wonderful President and Sister Stutznegger” to an area still far away but now in a much more urban environment. She talked about how she loved her mountain area and that she knows things will continue to grow there from an almost complete standstill when she arrived. She learned a lot while training Hermana Carrasco, and her ability to speak Spanish really increased during that time. She loves the language. She talked about how the area that she just left is very unique and that missionary work there can be challenging due to various factors. However, she expressed such tender feelings about the people there that she loves so much. They leave behind people who are now coming back to Church and activity in the Gospel, and people who are well on the path to baptism. She said it was very hard to say goodbye to the children who were attending the English class that they started. The children didn’t understand why they had to leave and brought little goodbye presents. She expressed love for the Church members who took such good care of them and helped them in so many ways. Two great Elders moved into the area and are going to continue efforts to spread the Gospel, especially in Rio Frio, and see if the area can continue to progress. She talked about things learned and the growth that she experienced in her previous area. She experienced inescapable cold for the first two months at that high altitude but learned to manage. She learned to carry water into her little house at times for showers...some cold and some warmer if they went outside to get the heater going or if they had time to use an iron to heat the water in buckets. She also learned to enjoy the benefits of a good old fashioned sponge bath and how to make due without a shower at times. She learned to adjust to breakfast of tamales and burritos etc. because their little shops did not carry cereal and other “typical” American breakfast foods. There were some hard days capped off by passing a dead dog with its legs in the air and a beer bottle in its mouth. There were other days that were capped off by a tender teaching moment and where they saw lives change. One constant is that she witnessed little miracles each and every day. She expressed the joy that comes from loving Church members who were always literally willing to give her anything and everything that they have. She is learning that one of the hardest things about serving a mission is saying goodbye to people who she will love and appreciate for eternity. Their last couple of weeks have been very busy and full. They even got to teach early morning Seminary during their last week in the previous area. She expressed love for the Mexico City area in general, and for her mission, and is sad about how fast time is flying.

Another Parent Note: The following is a recent letter from Hermana Lambert, Emily’s wonderful companion.

So it is official 9 de Mayo Prez is taking us of the hill and moving us to... wait for it... another hill!

I realize I probably haven't ever described what my pueblo is actually like. It is a very interesting mix of EXTREMELY tranquil and surprises around every corner. 

There is a guy here who has a tiger. On our street everyone is a member (feel like I live in Provo) except for one house that has a virgin shrine out front and these investigators have a garden that stretches the length of the block. IT IS HUGE! and inside they have a bunch of peacocks including an albino and a bunch of other exotic animals and birds. There is a ranch here with 30 mini ponies! and then they have 150 normal horses. And by normal, I just mean big because these are not ordinary horses--Arabians, and Thoroughbreds and all sorts of fancy horses. Lots of people gallop around on horses here. For me it is super funny when some whistles at us as they ride by on their horse I feel like saying " I was checking out your horse not you!"

The pueblo is normally very calm but weekends above the highway! WATCH OUT they go crazy! There are parties everywhere. They shut whole streets down every weekend to host their parties. The good thing is that once we told some of our investigators we can't go to parties as missionaries, so she fills us up plates of food and has children deliver it to our house at about 9:30 Friday and Saturday. Party food over here is usually mole or mixote (I think that is how it is spelled. The fun thing about mixchote is that is kind of like a goodie bag. The bad thing is you can never be sure what you are going to get.)

Basically mixote is carne de res (beef) (which is normally SUPER GOOD) with a bunch of spices (I think they even put a curry-like thing in there)  and nopales in a bag made of this certain plant they also make tequila out of. But you never know which part of the bull you are going to get. This week as we were eating at a members house in my "goodie bag" I got umm.. well... lets just say rocky mountain oysters with some other interesting pieces... I shudder just thinking about it I went home and brushed my teeth because I couldn't get the taste out of my mouth.

Happy Mother's Day!

Pic with President Stutznegger after a recent leadership council.

Hermano H, a German man who was baptized last year and recently coming back to Church. He is SO cute and So precious and his accents in English and Spanish are the best :)

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.

Great Gems and Miracles

Buenas tardes a todos! This week was full of memorable experiences. REALLY great gems. Among them, Hermana Lambert and I went to eat with La Hermana Natalia, a very sweet 94 year old woman. She lives across the street from us (she is the one whose 70ish year old son living with her died and I walked in and his body was still there on the bed). Being in her nineties, she can't see or walk very well but she was determined to do her part and feed the hermanas, for which we were very grateful! But going back to the not being able to see or walk very well part... we walked in for lunch and found her bent over the stove cooking some sort of very interesting concoction. We began to feel a little nervous. Hermana Lambert went to pull out her chair and found a very still looking kitten laying on the floor nearby. She then asked Hermana Natalia, "Hermana, su gato está bien?" (“Sister, is your cat okay?”) but she didn't hear and continued cooking and talking to us. Upon further inspection we discovered that the poor thing was dead and probably had been so for at least a couple of days. Hermana Lambert slowly slid into her chair and I had to leave the room for a sec because I was "coughing and sneezing" -- basically trying my best not to burst out laughing (I have been battling horrible seasonal allergies the last few weeks though so it wasn't totally fake). Soon, after seeing what we would be eating, we invited the hermana to sit on the couch with her back facing us so she could rest. We then began clanking our eating utensils on the bowls to make it sound like we were eating but instead put the food into a nearby Styrofoam cup and made futile attempts to feed it to the other still living cat. I know I sound like a terrible person saying all this! I am pretty adventuresome when it comes to eating a wide variety of things, in a wide variety of circumstances. However, Hermana Lambert and I were in agreement that we could not eat that food from those dishes. It truly would have caused great concern for our health. Thankfully, all this was done without the dear sweet hermana ever knowing. We then snuck out and informed her grandson's wife who lives nearby that we needed help taking care of a “little situation” in the house -- meaning collection and disposal of the dead cat. She told us to go distract Hermana Natalia while she cleaned it up. We walked back in, began singing hymns to her, and nervously watched as the other hermana silently entered with a broom and dustpan. As she "swept" the cat it left a trail of cat juices on the floor, and then to top it all off, it wouldn't fit into the dustpan! So, she gave it a good hardy shove with the broom into the dustpan...all this while we were singing “O Mi Padre” and “Now Let Us Rejoice”...without Hermana Natalia even knowing.

Well, I managed to knock Hermana Lambert over in basketball while playing with the young women during an activity to which we had invited a few of the girls from our English class. She took a fall which resulted in a scraped elbow and a hurting wrist. Some of the members thought she dislocated it so one of the big strong hermanos in the Ward began massaging it and seeing if he needed to reset it. Thankfully nothing was broken, but it was deeply bruised. I have been enjoying making fun of her huge purple hand; it looks like the hand of Baymax from Big Hero 6 except purple instead of white. Poor thing! I am officially a terrible companion!

We continue to work hard to bring the Gospel to Rio Frio. Went there this week and talked with a policeman working in the Delegación office if there was any community service we could do there in the town. He gave us the contact info we needed and then continued asking us more about what we do. He invited us to the next door tienda to buy us some Snickers and when we asked if there was anything we could do for him he said to tell us more about the Church. We then had a lesson with him and store owner right there and they loved talking to us! As missionaries we find ourselves in all sorts of situations, but in just about every single one we can talk about the Gospel. It is the best!

We were really blessed with a few miracles this week. For the first time since I have been in this area we had two investigators who we have been teaching come to Church. The whole Ward was delighted! Also, Hermano Hans -- the only Church member in Rio Frio who was baptized last year but has not been coming -- came to Church as well!!! We have been working really hard with him. He is from Germany and we love talking with him because his accent in both English and Spanish are really cool. He is so sweet. We also went to the Temple Visitor's Center with a less active woman and her daughter. They also finally came back to Church last week after many attempts on our part to visit them. We all loved that visit. It is amazing how just being on the Temple grounds brings the Spirit so powerfully into your life. Also, Hermana Lambert and I spoke in both of our Wards yesterday (I'll give details on what we spoke about next week) and I played the piano in Sacrament Meeting! I am so grateful that I bought the simplified hymn book for piano while at the Temple because it literally saved me. I think I was divinely guided on that purchase. Haha that was exciting :) Even more exciting is that two wonderful people we have been teaching are scheduled to be baptized on May 7. Keep them in your prayers!

Okay I need to go now but thank you for your prayers and your love :)

Love Hermana Jones

Parent Note:  By way of other news that occurred while the missionaries were sleeping, the volcano Popocatepetl erupted again in the early morning hours of Monday, April 18.  There is a time-lapse video of the eruption at various websites.

Por Fin!!!!

Finally! I can write to you all now! I am so sorry for the disappearance the last couple weeks. The Internet was a little grumpy up on the mountain but I am finally able to write to you. I am really sad that the draft I had written didn't save and honestly I don't remember much of what happened back then but I will do my best to fill you in. So much has happened over the last couple of weeks. The past two weeks we have had the lovely Hermana Padilla with us! We have been in a trio with her while she was temporarily put in or mission until everything with her visa worked out. She worked for a cycle in Oriental and has spent these last two weeks with us. I am here at the mission offices writing as we hand off Hermana Padilla. Tonight she flies out to the Missionary Training Center in Brazil to learn Portuguese and then to serve in the Portugal, Lisbon Mission. She is so cool and we are really sad to see her leave! It has been fun being in a trio with her, but Hermana Lamby and I will soldier on. I am so happy to be with her!

The last time I wrote was the Monday before Easter. We did not get out much on Easter weekend and were asked to remain in our little house. It gets fairly crazy around here during Easter and we maintained a low profile. More and Easter in a moment. I don't think I told you about the Relief Society (Church organization for women) activities we have had in the past few weeks so I'll start there. In Monte Corona we had a super fun activity. First we split into groups and visited and sang to a few of the Ward members who have not been coming to Church much. It was a great part of our time together. Then we had lots of fun playing different games, including "broom hockey" and basketball. I must say, these hermanas up here know how to kick trash. I want to start a league team up here with them and I know we would dominate everybody :) After that we ate lots of food, you know, the usual. Okay, second Relief Society activity. In the Jardines Ward, we went to clean the house of a sweet hermana whose son is confined to a wheelchair and many of her family are not very active in the Gospel. I appreciated the opportunity to provide service to that great family. Also, in the process, I discovered that the common household broom, or "escoba", can be used not only to sweep but to mop, scrub toilets, and wash windows. Who knew?! It's amazing! Life changing really :)

After that, Hermana Lambert got sick. AGAIN. So that meant that we just went to one Sacrament Meeting in the morning and spent the rest of Easter in the house. Have a great vacation family! Me too ;) While she slept for hours and hours, I spent some quiet time reading from Liahonas (Church magazine published in Spanish) and the scriptures. It was probably the most peaceful Easter afternoon I have ever had. I truly did feel the love of my Savior and enjoyed time to ponder and think for awhile. Then I was very happy when Hermana Lambert finally woke up because, you know me, I get a little stir crazy without someone to talk to, even more so now that I have become accustomed to having a companion with me haha :) I was grateful for my Easter in the mission field and the opportunity to reflect on the infinite sacrifice of my Savior, for the divine assistance made possible by His grace, and for the gift of resurrection that we all have because of Him. I love Him and am grateful to be one of His full-time servants.

Last Monday we were able to go to the Temple again and it was wonderful as always. It was such a nice day. I am truly grateful for Temples and the role that they have played on this earth since Old Testament times.

As far as other events of interest, the volcano Popocatepetl south of us exploded in recent days...hahaha we didn't feel a thing until Hermana Stutznegger called to make sure we were okay. I was happy to report that no we had not been covered in lava and volcanic ash raining from the sky. It is one of the more active volcanoes in the world and must have felt that it was high time everyone knew it. Also, Hermana Lambert got peed on by a dog while we were teaching about the Restoration of the Gospel in the street. That made my day. Hermana Wong and I are not the only ones (you may recall our shower of sadness ;)

We have found a lot of new people to teach lately. The problem is none of them come to Church. We will keep plugging away at it. After all, "that's just the way we like it!" :D As far as my health goes, the trail mix has been helping a lot but the last few days I have started to feel shaky and trembly again. I drink plenty of water and have some Gatorade and keep a bag of trail mix in my bag at all times. Love you all and have a wonderful week! I am going to spend some time making sure that I successfully send some pictures.

Hermana Jones

We were recently with President and Sister Stutznegger. Love them!!! They let us send this selfie to our families from President's phone recently to let them know we were okay after not hearing from us for a couple of weeks.

Hermana Lambert, Hermana Padilla and me. Good food, good times.

The three amigas working hard, living the dream.

We found a little Don Quijote statue outside a huge ranch in our area.

Sights of sheep herding is common here.

Sopes! So delicious. Hermana Lambert made a few (this is the same legendary kitchen where I attempted to make blue corn tortillas). We were stuffed. Our pleas and cries for less food didn't work this time I am afraid...

Mas sopes!

Familia J. Sanchez :) We are teaching one of them. Her name is R. (Once she is married she wants to be baptized).

I love this family!

Relief Society activity! These women are amazing!

Selfie.

Hermana Lamby and I recently took a little time out to take pictures of each other...just for fun.

 We are enjoying the coming of Spring!

Parent note: Pic of Popocatepetl eruption compliments of the Internet.

Happy Easter!

Hello and Happy Easter to all! I cannot believe it is that time of year again, which is by far one of my favorites. I am always amazed at the love I continue to feel from my Savior and really what His infinite sacrifice means for me and each one of us. We as missionaries have been using little cards while contacting that highlight the new "Aleluya -- Siguelo" video from the Church; I think it is called “Follow Him” en ingles. I encourage everyone to watch and share it throughout this coming week! It is so beautiful and focuses on the Savior in a way that all who believe in Him have in common. Check it out at LDS.org. This morning for study time I began reading "Jesus El Cristo" or "Jesus the Christ" and I LOVE it. I am only 5 pages in and am learning and finding so much. It will be my P-day study project for the next long while (it is a huge book). I will be preparing to give a talk in Sacrament Meeting in the MC Ward this coming Easter Sunday about how we can desarollar, or develop, Christlike attributes that will help us be more faithful. I am very excited because in studying for this talk I will learn so much more! We can always come closer to the Savior.

This week Hermana Lambert and I really focused on having more member-present lessons and we saw results because of it. Our goal is to have a Church member with us every time we go to teach in RF. We are working very hard to move things forward from a near stand-still in that area. However, we will not be working much this Friday or Saturday due to La Semana Santa. Here, on Friday, they will be doing a representación of the Crucifixion. They have chosen someone to act in the role of Jesus who will be paraded around the pueblo carrying a cross to a hill nearby and will crucify him. I understand that here they only tie him to the cross here but there are some places where they actually use nails. He won't be killed of course but that is part of how they celebrate here. On Saturday it is customary to "mojar" people; that means pour buckets of water on random people in the streets. I am not exactly sure about the history of this custom, but that is one of the reasons why we will be keeping a lower profile near the weekend ha ha :)

Okay, I must say that I just love my companion. First, because she is an amazing missionary all around! Second, because she is totally my spokesman for this whole recent food/we need to take care of Hermana Jones because she is having some health issues development. Yesterday in the J Ward Relief Society (that is who will be organizing meals for us during April) she announced to the dear Heramanas that the doctor has said that I cannot eat a ton of food anymore in an effort to help regulate my diet and sugar levels. However, she told them that she will gladly eat whatever I don't. They were all laughing and took it really well so I think we successfully avoided offending anyone and I am in the clear! She also has taken it upon herself to intercede at meals and tell the wonderful people who feed us, when they ask if I would like seconds, that I can't eat too much but that she would LOVE some more. They always say "of course, that's fine!" Thanks to her, I may get this thing worked out. Three big cheers for the amazing Hermana Lambert!! Seriously, love her. The intermittent snacks have been helping and it is really easy to find things like Snickers and pumpkin seeds etc. I will be honest, I do not like mineral water at all but I will drink it if it helps. I will keep you posted.

We played soccer today with a few Elders in our Zone and a family who was baptized about 9 months ago. SO FUN! I love being in a country that loves its futbol. We are also teaching a woman named Margarita who works in a torilleria (I believe I mentioned her awhile back) and is so cool. We contacted her awhile ago because in the tortilleria there is a picture of the Resurrected Christ but have had less contact with her for a bit because she told us she didn't have time. The other day we decided to drop in again and she got super excited and told us she had some doubts/questions for us related to the folleto (pamphlet) about the Restauracion. When she turned around to get the folleto, Hermana Lambert and I did a few little air fist pumps -- we love when people have questions because it means they are actually reading and thinking! It is encouraging when people study with a sincere intent to learn rather than with guile. We had a great time with her, gave her a copy of the Book of Mormon to add to her studies, and she has been reading it! We hope that she comes to recognize for herself that it is a second witness of Christ, along with the Bible. Good stuff :)

Ok well that's all I have time for for now. Have a great week and a wonderful Easter! LOVE YOU!

Hermana Jones

Just about anything can be turned into a taco.

Hello! I promised last week that I would send more pictures today so here goes.

Last Monday, the members of our zone -- Ixtapaluca 2 -- and the other Ixtapaluca Zone came up to the mountain and visited a Church ranch. This is my lovely comp Hermana Lamby and I. Mission life can be hard at times. But this whole experience is so rich and valuable in so many ways, and I am grateful to be serving. I love the people here and the missionaries that I serve with!

This is my zone all jam packed into a super rickety old combi on our way up to the mountain last Monday. It kept making noises and jerking forward and so on, and so forth, and what not, but we made it up the mountain! We had a great time with the other zone from Ixtapaluca grilling food, playing kickball, volleyball and soccer, and ended with a great zone meeting.

This is my district :) I'm sad because I think the District will be getting changed a bit this next cycle.

What I have discovered here in Mexico is that just about anything can be turned into a taco. So here we are with Elder Reyes holding a lovely taco de hamberguesa -- a hamburger between two tortillas.

We had a great time making carne asada on the grill with puree de papa, arroz, y tortillas.

I can see the volcanoes where I am every day, La Mujer Dormida (Iztaccihuatl in this pictured) and Popocatepetl (Smoking Mountain) farther south. They are so beautiful and covered in snow right now, and Popo is always smoking just a little bit.

My District Leader, Elder C, and me. We planned a training activity with him and his companion from Guatemala Elder R about how to study better in order to more effectively teach the Restoration. As it turns out we matched without even trying hahaha he put his head in his hands on that one.

Me with two of the little girls who are part of the group of little kids who run around following us and giggling. This is in a field near the street where we started contacting all these people. Below you can see RF and beyond that is the highway that takes us back to the Mexico City area (if you're going right) or to Puebla (if you're going left). Chilly day with double layers top to bottom!

Me with a less active woman named Herman E. We taught her about the Restoration of the Gospel and she just lit up, beaming and smiling as she was reminded of principles that she has loved before in her life. She got so excited telling us about how her mom is a convert to the Church, and began talking about one of her friends who she is going to invite into her home to listen to us. Here we are outside her home with her little daughter. Right when we took this picture it began SNOWING. That's right. For about two minutes it snowed up here in little AC. I never ever ever would have thought I would live in a little pueblo in Mexico, let alone see SNOW! It was a Christmas miracle (lisp added).

Me in a ridiculously large Mexican poncho that a nice lady let me borrow because it was FREEZING and raining all the blessed day long. This was taken right after we finished divisions where my companion and I go each went with other missionaries for the day (my first one ever as a STL). I went down the hill to work with Hermana Ramirez and Hermana Carrasco came back up to her old stomping grounds with Hermana Lambert. We all walked in the rain and wind all day. That's just the way I like it! So this is me with my poncho...wish I could have kept it honestly because it's pretty cool and really flattering I think... :)

Hermana Ramirez and me just minutes after leaving the house when the wind totally trashed our umbrella...literally turned it inside out. So, needless to say it was completely and utterly useless to us for the entire day. Blasted wind!

This is chicharron -- deepfried pig fat and skin and possibly other various parts. A really nice woman named G who we contacted was stirring a big giant pot of it and gave us a few bags. We bought some tortillas and made a dinner of it. So delicious but so not good for you, especially when you find a hairy pig wart in the mixture...mmmmmm...:(

I love you all!