The Lord had better plans in mind for us

It's funny. People will ask me how much time I have in the mission and I will tell them about a year and it doesn't really phase me. Then I log in to my email today and read a few emails from people reminding me that I basically been out a year and it hits me! How did that happen?! Well all I can say is that this has been the craziest but most fulfilling, rewarding, satisfying, happiest years of my life! I can't really describe it so I'll just leave it at that. I still have 6 months to go though and I’m going for the gusto, so don't be making the welcome home banners yet haha.

This week was full of changes. My beautiful, wonderful companion, hermana, and friend Hermana Lambert flew home last Thursday to have surgery on her wrist. It was a very weird, sad moment to stand by with President Stutznegger that morning in the airport as we watched her walk away :( I learned so many things from her and am forever grateful for the time we spent together as companions. She is an incredible person and I can't thank her enough. Shout out to Hermana Lamby! Love you!

So now I am still in my same area with Hermana Martinez, who trained Hermana Erin Jones, and she is stellar. We called her the night before to tell her that she would be my companion and needed to pack everything up. She is 25 years old, has 15 months in the mission, and is from Chihuahua, Chihuahua, México. She pronounces her "ch" like "sh" so she says things like "osho" instead of "ocho" and "buenas noshes" instead of "buenas noches." It's fun :) On Friday and Saturday I had the agenda nice and full with lots of appointments and plans and what do you know, NONE of them were home. So we spent two very hot, very long days walking around contacting and trying to find other people to visit. We experienced a few miracles along the way though. One was that, after being companions for 4 hours, a man approached us in the street and asked if we were missionaries. He explained to us that he just got back from Canada a week ago (he had been living there for 10 years) and that he was receiving the lessons from a few sister missionaries up there. He also told us that he had been reading the Book of Mormon and he wants to be baptized. His name is M.A. and after meeting with him on Saturday, we put a fecha for 16 de Julio :) (set a baptism date for July 16). Also, our casa de oración will be starting in two weeks! A very special experience yesterday -- we went with the Bishop, one of his counselors, Ward Mission Leader, an Hermano from the stake, and the Elders to the home of La Familia S and talked with them about starting Church services there. They said that they had faith in the Lord and his Church leaders and humbly said yes. Afterwards, each of them received Priesthood blessings, including their 4 year old grandson who lives with them because his mom was killed when he was a baby. It was a beautiful experience and we are very excited to start our own little ramita, or Branch, up here on the hill. It will be called La Rama Tlalpizahuac (not sure if I spelled that right :). Also, on Sunday we ended up visiting a less active, part-member family because the other appointment fell through and the dad, who is not a member, wants to be baptized :) So, as it turns out, the Lord had better plans in mind for us. Totally worth tromping around in the mud and rain! We have found a few less active families this last week who have family members that need to be baptized. Another miracle -- we went with O and B’s family Friday night (a family that we are teaching) and had planned to teach about el dia de reposo -- the Sabbath Day -- but when we came in and learned that J, O's dad, was once again in the hospital, we immediately knew that we needed to change lesson plans real quick. So, we just kind of went for it and said what came to mind. At the end of the lesson, I felt prompted to promise them that if they came to Church, the Lord would bless them for their dedication and effort and that J would be able to bear the afflictions he has right now. Up to this point they had not been to Church yet. Yesterday morning we passed by for them in the combi (taxi) of one of the Church members and there they were, ready to go to church :) I was beyond excited. We will visit about a baptismal date with them again this week. One last miracle -- another appointment fell through but both Hermana Martinez and I felt impressed to visit another woman we are teaching. When we got there we found her very worried because her daughter had gone to the movies with a friend the day before and still had not come back. We were able to let her use our phone to try calling her, sang her a hymn, and offered a prayer. There wasn't much else we could really do to help her but I am grateful that we were guided to visit her. I am continually amazed by the guidance that the Lord provides in our lives if we just listen and respond.

Well, I think that is all for now. Yes Mom I am using bug spray -- it smells like bananas -- and Hermana Stutznegger will be taking us to buy dress pants (allowed by new missionary clothing guidelines to reduce risk of mosquito contact and Zika virus). I really like my apartment, especially now that we have killed all of the worms and cockroaches ;) Love you all so very much! Happy week!

Love Hermana Jones

Our last hoorah with Hermana Lambert, eating tortas de tamal, or basically a tamale sandwich, together. So delicious.

My new wonderful companion, Hermana Martinez.

It rained SO HARD yesterday. We hiked down this very muddy slippery hill to an appointment only to find that she was not able to meet that day and asked if we could come by next week. Also, Hermana Martinez´s glassed broke so she was left to hike blindly through the mud and rain. We laughed the whole way though. It was a lot of fun actually :)

This is a pic from part of my new area.

Another pic from my new area.

And another...It is not all concrete :)

I found this sweet Batman mask in a member's home. I couldn't resist :)

It´s funny how after awhile you forget about maybe looking silly and just go for it. This message is that important!

Hey there! Life continues to move quickly here in Mexico. We are already finishing May. What in the blazes is going on here?! Solamente me falta seis meses en la misión y no estoy lista a terminar!!!!!! Pero bueno, así es la vida (I only have 6 months left on my mission and I am not ready to finish! But, such is life). Hermana Lambert and I had a good week. Many of our lesson appointments fell through so we just hit the streets and contacted and knocked doors and taught mini lessons on doorsteps and through windows and had ourselves a grand old time. It´s funny how after awhile you forget about maybe looking silly and just go for it. This message is that important! As we knocked doors on one street we knocked a certain door and realized that the man there was leaning out the window up on the second floor waiting for us to notice him. I shouted up to him and we began talking and teaching. He really liked what we had to say and complimented us for not having difficulty teaching him from down below. He wants us to come back and visit. It was also cool because he actually lives in a different house that we pass by all the time and he always wondered why we didn't knock his door and has been hoping that we would. His name is Benito and I am looking forward to teaching him. We took our investigator J and her son F to El Centro de Visitantes (Temple visitor’s center) and set another baptismal date with them for July 2. On Sunday we walked over to her house to pick her up for Church and she was already out the door on her way when we got there. It feels good to have someone progressing :)

Funny little side note...during a recent weekly meeting with our ward mission leader, rather than being able to participate, our ward mission leader sent me to the corner to make white bread meat and cheese sandwiches for all of the Elders hahahahahahahahaha I was laughing so hard. hehehe. Anywho, remember the kid I told you about who was so excited to get El Libro de Mormón? Well, he is still reading it and loves it. He thought it was so cool how the iron rod in Lehi's vision represents the word of God. Also, he shared with us that he prayed before reading one time, opened the book, and landed on 1 Nefi 10:19 that says that to those who search diligently will be unfolded the mysteries of God. It is his new favorite scripture. We just need him to come to Church now. It is hard because he works in a bakery in the city with a crazy schedule trying to support his mom and sister. We will find a way to get him there though! He is such a cool guy. We have found 30 new investigators in the three weeks that we have been here but just can't get people attend Church. We are really going to focus on that this week.

I have learned some great things personally this week thanks to people in my life right now. One of which is that I cannot always see the big picture of the story, or how things are going to turn out. I am just a small part of something much bigger than me and can't see what may happen to the people I talk to and teach at this time. Every good thing we do has good consequences. Also, thanks to an Elder in the mission, one of my new favorite scriptures is in 1 Nefi 2 where Nefi says "And my father Lehi dwelt in a tent." Lehi was a very wealthy man who gave up everything he had and dwelt in a tent in the desert for years because he loved the Lord, and being obedient was more important to him than all of his worldly possessions. That is a good reminder for all of us.

Love Hermana Honess :P

This is of one of our colonias in my new area. It is an AWESOME place. 

This was the goodbye fiesta we had with our adorable English class who I loved so much back in my previous area. I have never felt so much love from little kids. Unfortunately, not all of them are in this picture ):

This is La Familia P C, also from my previous area. Hermano E was our ward mission leader for the Jardines ward. This family means so much to me. I have a very personal connection that I will share with you when I get back. I don't want to share any super sensitive info over email but I love them a lot. We taught early morning Seminary our last week and a half in that area for Hermana M, the mom, because she had health issues.

This pic is of me with La Familia S S who let us use their computers to Skype you guys on Mother’s Day. They lived across the street from us and I LOVE them. I helped D, the bigger of the two boys, practice a little bit of vibrato on his violin. The pic was taken after I Skyped you.

Pics at a recent mission leadership council. Photo credit to Hermana Nebeker.

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.