Eventful week!

This has been an eventful week! Hermana Carrasco and I received permission to go back to Oriental this weekend because GUESS WHAT. Aide, Ingrid's mom, was baptized! :D One of the most wonderful experiences of my mission. Hermana Wong and Hermana Vazquez had to go to the hospital so Hermana Carrasco and I, and the two elders in the Ward, essentially ran the baptism! I sang “O Mi Padre” to the tune of “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” during part of the service. It was a wonderful event and I am so happy that we were able to be a part of it. Aide has completely changed. She couldn't stop smiling during the whole experience. She explained to us how grateful she was that we didn't pressure her into baptism. Eventually it was her time and she felt ready. I am so grateful for the time I spent teaching her while I was in Oriental. It is a wonderful, humbling opportunity to see the type of change that occurs when individuals and families come unto the Savior and His Gospel. It is a miracle to see a father change, and use his Priesthood authority to perform the sacred ordinances of baptism and confirmation for his family, with their sites set on the Temple and the opportunity to be sealed there.

We also received news that Hermana Carrasco is being sent back down the mountain -- something neither of us were expecting -- and Hermana Lambert will be joining me up here in the mountains! I will be teaching her the area and she will be teaching me how to be a sister training leader. That means the two of us will participate in mission leadership councils and go on divisions with the other Hermanas in our zone. It also means that will get to see Hermana Wong and Hermana Wolferts on a regular basis since they are serving in Oriental and Neza as sister training leaders as well. Super excited but very humbled and nervous. I feel like there are other sisters who know so much more than I do, but I am ready to do my best and just "Go for't!!" ;) Big news we were not expecting but it's going to be fun :) I will miss my little Hermana Carrasco though! I have loved being her trainer. We have gone through a lot together these past 12 weeks which has brought us close. There is probably so much more I could have taught her and could have done better as far as training but she is ready to go out and work. I really will miss her!

On another note, our investigator Rocio that I told you about last week prayed and fasted for guidance regarding wedding and baptism and and now has wedding and baptismal dates for April 16 and April 23 :) She acted on the invitation we gave her, kept her commitment, and received an answer :) So happy! Love you all.

Con amor,

Hermana Jones

(Parent note:  this email was "sent" on Monday, February 15, 2016, but due to what appears to be a server issue, it sat in our little Hermana's "sent items" box for a week and we just received it). Cheers!

Aide's baptism day!

Another of Aide's baptism day. I love love love La Familia Santoyo Chavez. Erick was basically inactive when we began visiting his family. Now he holds the Priesthood, has baptized his wife, and his daughter Ingrid (about a month ago), and they are planning to be sealed in the Temple next Valentine's Day :)

Hermana Carrasco and me with Kaori and Derrick, two of the cutest children in the world (their parents were baptized last April and will be sealed in the Temple this coming April -- I really hope I can go), During our visit to Oriental, we showed up unannounced at their door and the look on their faces was priceless!

This is us with Alicia and Salvador. They are progressing slowly but surely. Their son, Hermano Brautrelet, is here in the pic as well. He is the Ward Executive Secretary and was baptized 3ish years ago. He is a great guy, always helping us out with whatever we need. It was really nice visiting them again for a little bit during our stay in Oriental.

My new companion, Hermana Lambert :)

There is something different about us.

P-Day was great. We got to go to the Pyramids at the ancient city of Teotihuacan. Pictures do not do it justice and I absolutely loved visiting it today! I would really like to learn more about it. Well, this Wednesday I will complete 8 months in the mission (almost halfway...que triste ): and my companion will complete three months! Time flies. The work is hard and, I'll be honest, pretty slow right now but it is so worth and I wouldn't rather be anywhere else. This week was full of knocking on doors in one of my little pueblas where there is only one Church member that we know of. He joined the Church a year ago, is from Germany and speaks an interesting mix of German, English, and Spanish. He never has time for us because he works all day long in his very busy car shop. Hermana Tirado and I got to work together for a day in that same puebla and found ourselves surrounded by tons of people all carrying their "Niños Dioses" for Mass in the Catholic chapel there. The Niño Dios (which literally means Child God) is a tradition in Mexico of revering the Christ Child. Catholic Church members here have their own images of the Christ Child, which is honored and celebrated during the Christmas season...especially on Christmas Eve and on February 2 during Candlemas. One tradition is to dress the image in new clothing each year for presentation at Mass on Candlemas. We enjoyed learning as much as we could about the tradition from our wonderful Catholic brothers and sisters who were participating.

Neat experience this week. We have one investigator who is so wonderful and ready to be baptized! She is hoping to get married to her boyfriend whom she is living with. This past week during our lesson with her I felt impressed to simply invite her to fast and pray during this first Sunday of the month for two specific dates -- her wedding and her baptism. I promised her that if she did this with faith, Heavenly Father would answer her prayers. She looked at me with her large brown beautiful eyes that were filled with hope and said yes. We look forward to following up with her tomorrow. Also, this past week when we contacted a man named José who told us how he could tell that there is something different about us. He told us that he could see in our eyes that we are honest people and that we just want to help and that we have “a light” about us. I don’t tell you this to brag in any way; it just struck me that he noticed something different about us. I look forward to teaching him this Thursday as well.

We had a fun time last night with the Ward Mission Leader from one of the Wards and his family talking and laughing and singing hymns with their guitars. We are going to plan a Noche de Hogar (Family Home Evening) in the Chapel where we will have a music night and people can invite friends to join. I would also like to begin teaching children English classes again to bring more people from the pueblo to the chapel.

To my wonderful family... I love each one of you and am so grateful for the support and love you have for me. Thank you for your emails. I love reading about how you're doing and what you're up to. Not gonna lie, feeling a little jealous that stinkin Jake P is taking my place in the family going to sweet home Chicago this summer but I guess if anyone is allowed to then he is a qualified candidate ;) haha just kidding super happy for you and I know it will be a lot of fun! Over this next month I will work on writing letters for people in Chitown and send them to you so you can take them with you. I love you and please remember the little things that we have to do to stay strong as a family (Alma 37: 6-7). Take good care of the missionaries in the ward. They are far away from home. Love you :) Keep my two pueblos in your prayers. We are starting from square 1 in a lot of ways.

Love your Hermana in Mèxico

My District :) Love them so much. The Elders are from Honduras, Bolivia, Guatemala, and North Carolina. The Hermanas are from Ecuador, Aguascalientes, Mexico, Guatemala, Tijuana, Mexico, Boston MA, and me! We had a really fun day together!

Hermana Lambert is just the best!

My companion, Hermana Carrasco, and me on top of the pyramid named after the sun or "el sol." Absolutely incredible.

The Lord qualifies us for our callings and magnifies our efforts.

Hello all! I have great news to share about Alicia and Salvador, a husband and his wife that I had the pleasure of teaching in my previous area. During my last lesson with them, as we were about to end, I felt prompted to promise Salvador -- who suffered from a heart attack a few months ago -- that Heavenly Father was aware of his condition and that great blessings were in store for him. I also invited him to come to Church. He, his wife, and his son were all shedding tears. That Sunday they came to Church and thanks to the continued work of Hermana Wong and Hermana Vazquez, they have a baptismal date :)

As for cultural experiences, I ate a chicken heart this last week. I found it swimming in my bowl of various chicken parts. It was actually pretty tasty. Tasted like chicken :) Everyone was laughing at me as I incredulously looked at it; they wanted to make sure that I just put the whole thing in my mouth and eat it. Hahaha ooohhhhhh poor naive Hermana Jones :)

We had some really neat experiences this past week. One of which was a noche de hogar, or Family Home Evening, we had with a family here. There is a sweet older lady who has been a Church member for 4 years and has been striving to help her family accept the Gospel. She invited one of her daughters and granddaughters who are also Church members, one of her daughters who is a member of another faith, and her 3 daughters who want to be baptized. She also invited her 20 year old grandson who lives with her and is very atheist and studying philosophy. The one daughter and grandson were not too thrilled to be there and we could definitely sense that. Hermana Carrasco had a plan regarding what we were going to teach. However, the morning of our lesson, we both felt that we needed to teach about the Savior’s Atonement instead. We got some Clorox and red food coloring and did a little demonstration to aid in teaching about the Savior's Atonement. We started out with a glass of clear water and explained that it represents us when we are born - pure, clean, and innocent. Yet, as we continue on through life we make mistakes. As we taught, we wanted to involve the children in our lesson so we asked them to give ideas of things we might do that are not in line with our Heavenly Father's commandments and desires for us. We added a little more red dye with each example. The grandson took this opportunity to make some snippy comments such as "forcing people to do things they don't want to do" and "not being respectful or tolerant of peoples' beliefs." At that, the grandma said "not listening." So, that was all a little uncomfortable and my face was probably beet red, but we continued on as I pondered the great irony of his comment. Then we poured the Clorox into the red water and as it bleached out all of the red dye and stains, we explained how the Atonement cleanses us. We read about the doctrine of charity in Moroni and, as we did so, the daughter of another faith had tears streaming down her face. We then invited each family member to write down what they could do to develop this Christlike love in their lives. The grandson had grown quiet. We later heard from the active grandma that he had written that he needed to be more humble and listen to others more instead of proudly making comments. That filled us with so much hope. We ended with the video "Gracias a Él" or "Because He Lives", offered another prayer, played a game, and ate burritos. I feel so blessed to witness these small but profound changes that occur because of the influence of our Beloved Savior. He lives and He loves us.

My companion and I were put in charge of having a ward Family Home Evening last night (Monday, February 1) and talked about the great importance of accepting and magnifying callings (opportunities to have an area of focus in serving others in our ward families). I shared 1st Corinthians 12: 12-27 about how we are all members of the body of Christ and need to work together to make sure a ward is healthy and functioning. I took the opportunity to share with them about how I have played soccer and ran track for a good majority of my life and explained how happy I feel when my body can run, play, and function like it is supposed to. I told them how sad I felt when I couldn't compete and perform like I wanted to because something wasn't working right. The simple truth is we need one another and all play an important role. Also, as we serve, we realize an increase in love for those that we serve and for our Heavenly Father. We feel a deepened connection with them and Him. We recognize that WE receive great blessings when our focus is outward.

Also, random note, a few weeks ago I gave an impromptu talk in Sacrament Meeting on Alma chapter 19 about Abish and her courage to share the Gospel. I feel so grateful to Heavenly Father as I think back to when I first began my mission and how inadequate I felt compared to now where I can talk and teach in front of a large group in the Spanish language. The Lord qualifies us for our callings and magnifies our efforts and blesses those we serve (President Eyring's talk from this last General Conference Priesthood Session is wonderful). More stories and pics next week. I love you all so much and pray for you.

Love Hermana Jones

Alicia and Salvador

Hermanas Carrasco, Tirado, Lambert and I enjoying a van ride to the Temple last week.

My wonderful district members!

The saying "Mi casa es tu casa" is very literal here

I hope this note finds you well, even though it is a day late. It was a great day at the Temple for me. We stayed the night with Hermana Lambert and Hermana Tirado last night and went with them to the Temple this morning. We also went with two Elders from our district, very great missionaries -- Elder Close, our District Leader, and Elder Reyes from Guatemala.

I had a great birthday! My district threw a surprise party for me...they are the BEST! There is a fun little tradition in the Latin culture for birthdays that I look forward to implementing when I return home (get ready mom :) Someone stands behind you as you prepare to take a bite of cake and they smash your face into it really hard. I had cake way up in my nostrils hahaha good times :) I also had a surprise party on Thursday night with the Familia Romero Rodriguez from the J Ward. They even gave me gifts. I cannot believe how amazing the people are here! We have also received many many referencias for people to teach from them. Just before my little surprise party with the Romero Rodriguez family we found a new family to teach with one of them. The Spirit was very strong as we talked with this new family. They are the Familia Dominguez Sandres, and are a family of five with two parents, an 18 year old daughter, a 14 year old teen boy and a 12 year old boy. We had originally planned to visit another family but they weren't home so we looked for this family instead and they were home! There are no coincidences, especially when it comes to the work of the Lord and I am really excited to begin the lessons. Then, on Saturday night, I had another surprise birthday party with la Familia Jaimez Sanchez from the MC Ward. They are some of the sweetest people! We grilled burgers and ate cake and they gave me a few gifts as well. It was with Hermana Ana that I learned how to make tortillas. She was wearing a baseball cap the other day that I really liked of some Mexican restaurant and I complimented her on it. What should happen next? She promptly took it off and gave it to me. I am quickly learning here that I cannot tell people that I like the things they have because they give them to me! It happens so often. The saying "Mi casa es tu casa" is very literal here. I opened the package you sent while I was with them and gave them the granola bars and nut clusters. They went CRAZY for them and would like some more in the future haha ;) In other news, I have been dealing with athletes' foot and also took a bit of a tumble and scraped up my knee. I have been using antiseptic spray as a remedy and it has dyed me purple haha :)

I want to share an insight I had this week while reading the talk from this last General Conference by Elder James B. Martino. He mentioned the scripture James 2:17 which we states that faith without works is dead. He also mentioned that works without faith is dead. This really struck me. It is so true! Oftentimes we just do things to do them – because they are required, because other people will think better of us if we do them, and other similar reasons. As members of the Church of Jesus Christ, many times we just read the scriptures or pray or go to church without real faith or intent. Essentially, we just go through the motions. As a missionary, if I just contact people to get my 10 contacts in every day or set goals for numbers of lessons or things like that without real faith or desire, it means nothing. I learned something similar to this from my dad and Grandpa Jones a few years ago. Dad, I remember we took on the project one day and it was frustrating, tiring, and took forever because it hadn't been done right the first time. You shared with me that many years ago Grandpa told you something about how life is much better and more meaningful when we do things right the first time. In like manner, we need to do the things we do in a manner that is edifying and faith building, not just to do it. I can't believe that a year ago, on my birthday, I received and opened a mission call telling me that I would be serving in Mexico. Now here I am a year later, 7 and a half months in to the mission, living in Mexico, speaking Spanish, meeting incredible people, and making lifelong friendships. I cannot adequately describe how much this experience has changed me and how grateful I am to be a missionary here in this time and place. I love you all so much and wish you all the best. Act in faith.

Love, Hermana Jones

Hermanas Lambert, Tirado, Carrasco and me at the Temple (Tuesday January 26, 2016)

District surprise birthday party

I love my district!

Cake up the old nostrils...mmmmmmm...its the baste!

Surprise birthday party with la Familia Romero Rodriguez (more below)

Surprise birthday party with la Familia Jaimez Sanchez (more below)

Hermana Ana (she taught me to make tortillas...and gave me her hat!)

Little cat friend I found outside our house. It was a mistake being kind to it for a few minutes because it would not be quiet for the rest of the night. Incessant meowing outside the house the whole night!

Manna

Oh my goodness P days are so plum loco! My schedule was packed today and I am still getting used to traveling a fair distance to be able to write to you. I am writing like a mad woman over here with a very very full stomach and must be brief today due to limited time. My concern of gaining weight in this area is ever increasing more and more rapidly. I ate SIX meals on Saturday. One was breakfast in my house. The other FIVE were in the home of Church members. Everyone wants us to eat with them! I nearly threw up at the table during the comida with the wife of one of the Bishops. Poor thing probably thought that I didn't like the food which is not true but I was really struggling to finish the plate and would have to sit back in my seat at times trying to get it all down. I must have looked ridiculous. Tender mercy though - I offered a silent prayer that I would be able to finish and was able to stuff the rest in. Weird analogy but this and other mission experiences remind me of stories in the scriptures of people who prayed for extra strength to deal with difficult situations. We cannot pray for everything to just magically be okay. We pray for strength, and then we get off our knees and get to work - in this instance, stuffing my mouth full of the ever abundant chicken here in Mexico. However, the lesson is applicable to all hard things that we face in this life.

The Church members here are trying their best to help us find people to teach and I am so grateful for them. Overall, I am discovering that finding people to teach is pretty tough here. We get rejected a lot and some people are not very kind about it. Yet, we seem to end up finding that one person who listens to us and invites us over :) Every contact is worth it.

I made a tortilla this week from maize azul. It is harder than it looks. I squished it too flat so there were a lot of holes in it but I will keep practicing :) We also received some manna this week...in the form if chicken eggs. As it turns out, a chicken visited our yard and laid a couple of eggs there. You know what they say, when life gives you eggs, you cook them and eat them. So, we did :)

We also had a great visit from President and Sister Stutznegger this week as they brought us some additional much needed supplies. I love them so much. I love you all so much, too! Keep spreading the good word! :)

Love Hermana Jones

On the road to my little puebla. Photo credit to the Stutzneggers.

The volcanoes near my new home. Iztaccihuatl (dormant) is closest, and Popocatepetl (active) is farthest. Both are over 17,000 feet above sea level. Photo credit to the Stutzneggers.

Hermana Carrasco and I in our yard. Photo credit to the Stutzneggers.

Girl's best friend.

Making tortillas.

Transfer to Ixtapaluca

Greetings from the far eastern end of the mission in the Ixtapaluca Zone. First, great news! I talked with Hermana Wong on the phone this week (she is still in my previous area with a great sister named Hermana Vazquez who left the CCM with me). Ingrid was baptized and apparently the baptism was absolutely beautiful and everything went so well! It won't be long before Aide, her mom, is baptized too. I just know it. I'm really sad I that couldn't be there for the baptism (I am so far away from everyone now) but I feel so blessed to know that I was involved every step of the way and was able to serve and teach that wonderful family for so long. I hope to be with them in the Temple one day.

Now, about my area. I will try to give as much information as I can, so here goes. Our area covers two little pueblos (towns) that are nestled in the mountains. The air is much, much fresher and cleaner and it makes me very happy. I am covering two Wards, one of which takes up the upper side of the "hill" in one pueblo and the other which takes up the bottom half of the "hill" as well as another pueblo. We walk A LOT. Also, to get from one pueblo to the other, we take a combi (taxi) for about 20 minutes. You have to time it well because it runs on a very strict schedule and only comes every two hours. To email, I come back down to Ixtapaluca where we have our district and zone meetings. We take a combi to get there as well. It is about a 25 minute drive in a combi down a very looonnngggg curvy road on the mountainside (I understand car-sickness now). 

Working here is very different than working in the city. There are not nearly as many people to contact but there are a ton of Church members who are some of the most wonderful people I have every met in my life. I almost cry every time I enter their homes or talk to them because they are so humble, sincere, loving, and willing to help. I have been receiving referrals left and right - more in just 5 days of work than I ever got during my five and a half months in my previous area. They tell us "hermanas, whenever you don't have any food to eat or need anything, please come right over. It is a blessing to have you in our home." Basically I don't have to worry about going hungry or doing laundry here because the members are climbing over each other to help us. This morning Hermana Yolanda knocked on our door and basically told us that she would be expecting us at her house for lunch today because she knows it's P Day and we don't have a place to eat. Eight of her nine children have served missions, so she understands. She and her family are some the most amazing people. She wanted me to send a hello and a hug to you today as I write to you. The hermanas who were here before left us lots of lists of potential investigators to look for. We will be doing that, working with the people who are less active in the Gospel, and contact the referencias we have received to find people to teach. 

My apartment is actually a little house and it is so pretty, but FREEZING. I haven't been this cold in a long time. We work and sleep in our coats. I can see my breath inside the house. President should be getting a space heater to us today but we have been sleeping under 6 or 7 blankets to keep warm. We study in our beds too because it is so cold. The bathroom has water that condenses on the ceiling but we have a shower with hot water that works when we turn on the boiler outside. I periodically have to turn off the water and wait a few moments for it to heat up again while showering though because it doesn't last that long...but I am grateful for it. My first morning there I enjoyed a bucket shower - splashed myself with water using a bowl and a bucket - because we didn't have gas. That was fun :) But we have lots of flowers, and cactus, and peach trees outside our house which I love. It's in a beautiful place. I don't have time for pics this week but I will try to get them to you next week. 

As for other little details, I ate rabbit leg in a bowl of salsa for lunch yesterday with the usual rice and tortillas - can't leave those out - and it was really tasty. I loved it actually. I am definitely not in the city any more. I am walking older cobblestone or dirt roads at times where people ride their horses or pull their donkeys along. I can see the horizon and wake up to the mountains every morning. President talked to me the other day and told me that I didn't live in Nevada in the country for nothing. He firmly believes that I was supposed to be the one to work and continue training Hermana Carrasco in this area. I am so grateful to be here right now. 

Being a missionary is just the best :) No matter what comes our way, we have the decision to make the best of things. Life is too short to be unhappy. Being happy is so much more fun and fulfilling. 

Love you all so much!

Love, Hermana Jones 

Parent note: The pictures below are courtesy of President and Hermana Stutznegger last week at changes. Hermana Jones got to help give vaccinations. This is quite humorous because this is a child who would cry and have anxiety when receiving vaccinations as a little one. We did not see this coming. However, she did have valuable experience giving vaccinations as she grew up...to cattle on her Grandpa and Grandma Jones' ranch. As we liken the scriptures to ourselves we see that "all these things shall give thee experience and be for thy good." 

Parent note: The pictures below are also courtesy of President and Sister Stutznegger, who brought much needed supplies to the missionaries in the Ixtapaluca Zone. The Stutzneggers reported that they found the missionaries happy, cold, and excited. We are grateful for the way that they lead, love, and care for their missionaries!