What a week it has been

Happy Monday! Wow what a week it has been. I once again find myself in a maze of concrete and buildings, unable to see the horizon but LOVING being here in Neza. For one thing, the streets are all lined up where they should be as found on the map, they have names, they have street signs with the corresponding names, and the houses have numbers all lined up neat and tidy in numerical order where they should be. That makes my life MUCH easier. A little less adventurous but more efficient time haha no more "the red house next to the tienda with two windows by the people who own a brown dog on the third street from the top of the hill with a bush that sings" hehehe anyhoo, life is good here :) I feel no stress whatsoever and am just happy to be here! I am in el barrio J E where many legendary missionaries have gone before me. It is an awesome Ward -- the capilla (chapel) was full to the brim yesterday. I love my companion! Her name is Hermana Torres and she is from Campeche by the coast. She is so tiny and so precious! She is here until her visa is finalized and them she will be serving a Spanish speaking mission in St. George and working in the visitor's center there. It is so much fun working with her and I am grateful for the opportunity to train again. The first time training I stressed too much. It is amazing how much I have changed in just 8 months. The Lord has given me so many opportunities and experiences to grow and become better. Right now I feel completely happy and stress free opening an area and training. I also feel like I can help my companion a lot more than I did with Hermana Carrasco. I just feel much more confident in my abilities. The Ward is divided into two areas. A companionship of Elders are on the south side and we are on the North side. It is a much smaller area than what I have been used to the last eight months but it is bigger than my first area. We are working on finding less active families, following lists and registros, as well as following referencias from the Ward members. The members are angels here. LOVE them. We live in what is called the "edificio mormona" because of the five families who live there, only one are not Church members. We are also picking up on where the Elders who were here before us left off in terms of investigators. Almost all of them are family members of recent converts which is great. We are also working off of the old lists of investigadores futuros -- basically lists of names of people who other missionaries contacted awhile ago and may have interest. Yesterday we had a really cool experience thanks to that. We decided to look for a man named Oliver on one of these lists. We knocked his door and he looked out from his top window. When we told him that we are missionaries and that we were looking for Oliver, he got a huge grin on his face and came down to meet us. He is a really big guy with a huge beard. He had a Sixers jersey and flat-brim on. The missionaries contacted him a few months ago but wasn't there when they went back and they never talked again. He told us that he wants to make changes in his life and feel peace again. We taught him La Restauración right there in the street outside his front door. He loved everything we taught and is so excited to come to Church this next Sunday. I felt a really good vibe from him and am confident that he will progress. It was so much fun to talk with him; my companion and I walked away from that lesson fist pumping the air and such :) Another cool experience -- we were walking in the rain last week when we crossed paths with a nice lady who invited us into her house. We began talking with her and realized that she is a Church member. We shared a scripture with her and then her husband who had been listening from the other room came in. We asked them if we would be seeing them on Sunday in Church and, after looking at each other for a moment, they said yes. They came yesterday along with their daughter and granddaughter. The daughter got up and shared her testimony, shedding tears and saying that even though she had not been in a long time she knew the Church is true and could feel the Spirit there. Later on we were called out of the second hour class by the Bishopric first counselor to meet with this family. Turns out they have been inactive or going to another ward or something for a long time and the ward does not have there records. They want to take care of that so they can be in this ward and set things right. Also, the daughter told us about her husband who is not a member and has not wanted to accept visits from anybody but now that we are here she wants us to visit him. We went last night and had a great experience. He is a military man who has been through a lot of tough stuff and does not have interest in religion but has a firm belief in God. Honestly I don't remember much of what my companion and I said but all I know is that we all felt the Spirit and he wants to learn more. His heart was definitely softened by the end. There have been other people like that who we met this week. It helps confirm to me that I am in the place where I need to be in the right time with the right people. One other experience this last week...because I am training we do more practicing during study time in the mornings. I put a picture of you four with me -- us as a family -- in front of us and we began "teaching" the Jones Family about the restoration of the Gospel to the earth. From the moment we started with Dios es nuestro amoroso Padre Celestial, I felt the Spirit so strongly there in our apartment. When I taught about the First Vision, and when my companion talked about the Book of Mormon and its role as a second witness of Jesus Christ, tears welled up in my eyes as I felt it all confirmed to me that this is true. I felt so grateful to know that we are an eternal family who has the restored gospel in our lives. It made me realize all over again why I am here and that this message is so important to share with as many families as possible. I want them to have the same reassurance and peace that we have as a family. I love you all so much :) Have a great week!

Love Hermana Jones

La Familia Matías Olivares - Dulce and Luis were just baptized and mom and dad will be following their examples. They made tamales for the Elders and us on our last night in the area. Love them so much! They had a huge impact on my life! Hermana Villalobos from Honduras is now with my old companion in the area.

Hermana T and her two adorable grandkids, E A and U. She made us delicious bean-filled homemade corn tortillas with all kids of yummy delights to put on top. She also made me a bag :) This was last Monday as well. She is the one who introduced us to Abigail and her kids. She is a top notch member missionary and I love her and her family a lot too :)

A few pics of the casa de oración in my old area. It is the house of the family S P. The green room is where we try to stuff as many people as possible for Sacrament Meeting and where we also have held Relief Society for the last couple weeks. The bottom-two pictures show the front part where you walk in; it also serves as space for Sacrament Meeting overflow. We put a speaker out there so that attendees can hear the person speaking (although you can't see them very well). Above are two empty cinder block rooms where we have other classes. Every week the Elders and we took turns teaching the jovenes/principios del evangelio. I loved being in this place.

This is F and he is one of my most favorite people EVER.

Hermana Lambert and Elder Miller. Hermana Lambert came running to me when she saw me and we had a big hug. Hermana Lambert está en Ayotla in a trio with Hermana Wong and Hermana Jones. Also, I am still serving as sister training leader with Hermana Gonzalez who is also training another missionary. We get to work with the hermanas in Neza and Oriental. Hermana Martinez (my old companion) and Hermana Villalobos work with the hermanas in Ixtapaluca.

These are pics of our apartment. I bought light bulbs today to brighten up the space (it is a bit cave-like) and when I installed them my companion called me a genius because I know how to change light bulbs haha it is now a little brighter and more cheerful :) I kind of feel like Buddy the Elf in the shower but otherwise it is a nice little place :) We also have couches. That is a first for me!

NEZA YORK HERE I COME

Guess what?! Two wonderful people were baptized on Saturday and confirmed yesterday :) The first new members to be baptized and confirmed in the casa de oración -- the future Rama Tlalpizahuac. It was such a special experience :) A little hectic getting everything ready but it all turned out so well. We held the baptism at 5:30 Saturday afternoon in the Izcalli/Ayotla Church building. All day beforehand my companion and I were making programs, buying stuff, and running around like crazy. About an hour before the servicio is when life got stressful. We get a call from Elder Olson and Elder Camarillo (they work in the Branch with us) who were going to perform the baptism, and help us with a musical number, saying that the Temple session they had entered with a person they taught started an hour and a half late...and they were just leaving. I contacted our zone leader Elder Rodriguez who came to the rescue and said he would baptize them for us (they were planning on coming anyways). Then we stopped by the house of a few Church members who helped us make hot chocolate and were going to go with us to buy a cake and plates etc. The four of us got in a taxi and my companion had the big pot of chocolate on her lap. About four minutes into the drive it started splashing all down her skirt. We got to the store and we did emergency divisions -- I went with one of the hermanas into the store and we set a record pace of grocery store shopping while my companion and the other hermana stayed outside with the blasted pot of hot chocolate. We got into another taxi, made it to the church, and found that the hermano who was going to help us with the TV and video, and officially welcome Luis and Dulce to the Branch, was not there. Also our ward mission leader informed us that the font was still filling up. Thankfully Luis and Miranda were there with their white clothes -- that was the most important part. Hermana Wolferts and Hermana Jonapa were there and they helped us out with the musical number. After some more running around, and phone calls, everything was ready. We took pics and started the servicio. It was so wonderful! The room was full of people there to support the family. Two youth spoke about baptism and the Holy Ghost, and right before the baptism ordinance we watched a two minute video from the Mormon Channel of the baptism of Jesus. The feeling in the room was amazing. Then Luis Antonio (12 years old) and Dulce Miranda (14 years old) were baptized. Their mom Abigail who has been with them during every lesson, and knows that this is all true, was there in the front row. At the end the Luis and Dulce shared their testimonies and their mom, choking on tears, gave the closing prayer. It was such a beautiful experience and the Spirit was there. It hit me that they were truly following the Savior in this moment. Yesterday they were confirmed members of the Church and received the Gift of the Holy Ghost. Both of their parents came for the first time and loved it. I am very excited for my companion to continue teaching them this next cycle and hopefully see them baptized as well. La Familia Matías Olivares has become so special to me. I have written their story in my journal. Tonight we are going to eat tamales with them :D It amazes me how much a missionary can come to care so much about somebody they have only known for 2 or 3 months. It is hard to fully describe all that has happened and how I have felt but, but I LOVE THESE PEOPLE. It is such a privilege and blessing to be here. Tomorrow I go to Neza. Super excited! :D

Love,

Hermana Jones

The pictures below are from the baptism of Luis and Dulce Miranda.

The couple on the right, Hermana Teo and Hermano Ernesto, put us in contact with the Matias Family. Their grandson, who is a friend of Luis, gave a talk and taught about the importance of the Holy Ghost.

This is us after district meeting (not everyone there) and with part of La Familia Mendoza Ramirez who feeds all eight of us every Sunday afternoon. It has been fun, also a little chaotic you could say, eating with six 20ish year old young men, but it's a good time. Awesome memories. Back from left to right -- Elder Vite from here in the D.F. who is one of my zone leaders, Elder Olson from Utah who will be at Utah State in 3 weeks who worked as an office secretary for almost a year of his mission, my companion, Elder Lynch from California who is my district leader, Elder Rodriguez from Argentina who is my other zone leader. Bottom row from left to right -- Elder Onofre from Ecuador who I started with in Oriental, Elder Camarillo who has lived in different parts of Mexico who was President Stutz's assistant for awhile and will be going to BYU this January, me, Hermana Angelica, and a few of her kids (they were baptized a little over a year ago).

Eating two minutes before it rained and we rushed everything inside. 

Every Thursday night at 7 we have our coordination meeting with Hermano Juan, our ward mission leader, and a few other hermanos from the ward and sometimes a member from the bishopric. We always eat afterwards and take turns bringing the food. These last week, because Elder Olson and Elder Camarillo are finishing the mission and Elder Onofre and I have changes, we shared our testimonies and how we have felt working in this area. I have learned so much being here, mainly how to listen to the Spirit and follow it no matter what, especially when you don't understand why. It was very special.

My amazing district after a district meeting earlier in July.

P-day last week when we made carne asada and all that. I have realized that I need to learn how to cook. All of the Elders can cook better than me. Some of them worked as chefs. I burned water in President's house when I tried making spaghetti. I am pathetic.

Last Week in Ixtapaluca.

Hello everybody! I am writing this email to you all very very very full of food. Today as a district we made tortillas de harina, carne asada con chorizo y salchicha, frijoles con queso, guacamole con jitomate y cebolla y jalapeno, cebollitas asadas, tocino, y un buen de otras cosas. It is so cool being comps with a nortena because they know how to cook. I absolutely love my district and will miss them a lot. This coming week is my last week in Ixtapaluca and I will be shipped out next week to an area in Nezahuacoyotl. NEZA YORK BABY!!! hahaha I am excited to finish things off out there. We were in Neza quite a bit this last week for various meetings and activities. On Tuesday I was there for the training meeting -- I will be receiving a temporary hermana from Mexico who will be here until her visa is approved. She will then be serving in St. George, Utah! She will be coming here to the mission straight from her house without any experience in a mission training center. I am super excited to meet her and begin working together in Neza. (This will be the third of four areas that I have opened. I haven't been transferred to an area where someone was already in charge of things since my training...and I am going to go for it!) After the meeting we came back to our area, worked for a little bit, then went back to Neza Tuesday night for an activity we had all day Wednesday in Pantitlan. We spent a whole day with youth from the Estaca Pantitlan teaching them how to be missionaries. All but two of the hermanas in the mission went to help out and we worked in Neza for the day since Pantitlan is not super safe. We started at 7 in the morning studying with the youth, had a great devotional by President Stutznegger, and went out to work. I went with two amazing jovencitas named S who is 13 and was baptized four months ago and with K who is 15 and was baptized 4 years ago. While visiting people with them I was reminded of what a pure testimony really is. They were absolutely incredible during the lessons we taught and handled contacting like champs! We spent probably two and a half hours just walking and contacting since we were working in a place I have never been and without a list of people to contact, or a map. I loved being with those two and having them tell me the things that they learned throughout the day. We slept in Neza again on Wednesday night and came back Thursday morning. (Most of us were crammed into Hermana Wolfert's apartment and I stole the blanket from Hermana Wong during the night haha poor thing!) On Thursday we worked as a district in my area. We had prepared lists and maps divided into colonias for each of the companionships and set to work with the purpose of finding all of the people on our list...we focused on those who are less active in the Gospel. We are really trying to grow this casa de oracion (a newly formed congregation). We have had a consistent attendance of about 50 people every week by what I am able to see. It was so cool because as soon as we started to work a girl of 17 years came up to us and asked us if we were missionaries. She explained to us that she had been baptized in Los Reyes about a month ago and had just barely moved here last week. She and another friend who is a Church member who was a baptized a year ago and lives here too (but we didn't know him) came to our noche de hogar and Church on Sunday. About an hour and a half later my companion asked a woman for directions and she got super excited because she is also a Church member and her family just moved here four days ago. We were so happy to find so many people to bring to Church with us! It has been so special working in the casa de oracion. I am very hopeful that construction on a capilla (church building/chapel) will be approved soon. We went back to Neza on Friday for the leadership council and I was able to hear the testimonies of a few of the most amazing people I have ever met on the mission who will be going home next week. That has been one of the best things about serving a mission -- meeting incredible people from other parts of the world who decided to give two years of their life in the service of the Lord. Their testimonies have forever strengthened and changed mine. We have wonderful investigators who are progressing so well and have the sincere desire to come unto Christ and be baptized. Two of them will be baptized this Saturday :) The casa de oracion was llenisimo yesterday with many investigators, less actives, and new people who recently moved here. On Saturday we had a noche de hogar como rama and it was so much fun. The Elders, my companion and I taught from the story of the Jaredites who we read about in Ether (in the Book of Mormon). We talked about how we need provisions (the scriptures), impermeable ships (homes where we have family home evenings), lighted stones (leaders and priesthood holders of the restored Church of Jesus Christ), and prayer to help us cross the seas of life and return to live with our Heavenly Father. Afterwards we played games and ate homemade donas and arroz con leche. It was so much fun. I have grown to really love the people here and will miss them so much! We set a few more baptismal dates last night as we met with people who we didn't have a set appointment with but were hoping we would come. The same thing happened a few days ago with a few investigators who we lost contact with and who had said prayers earlier that day asking Heavenly Father that we would come. I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY. It is the most special, wonderful thing I have done in my life because other people's lives have connected with mine in a way that only our Heavenly Father can design. My heart is so full right now. I love you all very much and wish you all a wonderful week :)

LOVE HERMANA JONES

Parent note: The following note was posted by Sister Stutznegger on her Facebook page along with the pictures. We are grateful for the Stutzneggers! 

“On Sunday (July 17, 2016) we attended a "House of Prayer." It was established in Ixtapaluca for some of the members of the church that live too far away from a chapel. Often they don't have the funds for the transportation. The meeting was held in a home. We have 4 missionaries serving in this area.”

Today as a district we made tortillas de harina, carne asada con chorizo y salchicha, frijoles con queso, guacamole con jitomate y cebolla y jalapeno, cebollitas asadas, tocino, y un buen de otras cosas. Mmmmmmm.....see pics below.

The picture below is from our day with the youth from the Pantitlan Stake. So great!

Serving a mission is also preparing me for the real mission I have ahead of me when my time here is finished.

Today we are going to Zocalo and the Centro as a district which will be a lot of fun. I just want to share a few things real quick. President and Sister Stutznegger joined us for Church yesterday. It was so fun to have them with us! I love this little casa de oración. I will try to get some pictures. I played the keyboard during Sacrament Meeting yesterday haha. The two Elders who are with us in the branch play so much better than I do but circumstances arose that put me in the hot-seat :)

Yesterday was hard. My two wonderful investigators who were going to be baptized on July 30 couldn't make it to Church and their baptism date is changing. I will be transferred to Neza in two weeks and will be training again so I will no longer be here. It was really discouraging for them to not be there yesterday but then I realized again the importance of patience and that serving a mission is also preparing me for the real mission I have ahead of me when my time here is finished.

The good news is that A.R. was baptized on Saturday up in Monte Corona Ward in my previous area. Hna Lambert and I got to know her really well through English classes and began to teach her. The Elders there are wonderful and really helped her to learn and progress to where she is now. It was fun to see so many of the people I love in the mountains again! A.R. was the first person to be baptized that Ward since December.

Hermana Martinez and I with A.R. at her baptism.

I love these kids SO MUCH. They are the grand kids of the wonderful Hermana T who lives in La Rey and helps us a lot by going with us to teach lessons. One of these boys is not yet a Church member but wants to be baptized. We played a fun memory card game about faith with them yesterday and then had tamales oaxaquenos and hot milk.

Love these two girls -- I and J from the Monte Corona Ward in my previous area. They are the ones who fed me chicken heart. We met their cousins here in our current area and we are helping them become active in the Gospel again.

This is us making chiles rellenos (I will be making them for you when I get back) in the home of P, a woman we are teaching and who we eat with every Thursday. She is progressing very well to be baptized on the 6th of August. It was so funny how we met her. Hermana Martinez and I were walking down the street when an old Volkswagen bug pulled up behind us and two people in the back tried getting our attention. Usually when that happens I just keep walking but they insisted so we turned around. It was P and her "husband" M asking if we could visit them. Turns out that they had been receiving the Hermanas from the Chalco Mission for a few months last year and want to be baptized. We have been working with them since. Wonderful people!

Well, I need to go for now. I love you very much. Thank you for everything.

Hermana Jones

Feliz 4 de Julio!

(Parent Note: this Hermana Jones sent this email on July 4, 2016)

Happy Independence Day to everyone back home! It is hard to believe that this time a year ago all of us Americanos sang the Star Spangled Banner in the comedor of the CCM while all the Latinos took videos of us haha and the staff made us really good American food and apple pie with vanilla ce cream. Well I just spent a really fun day at el guarda. It felt good to drive through my old area again. I will be heading up for a baptism in two weeks of someone I taught and who the Elders there have been working with. Her name is A R and she is awesome.

Okay well my week was crazy. We went to the Temple twice -- once to do baptisms with recent converts of the ward and branch, and the other for our P day. We also went to the Los Reyes and Paraiso zone conference on Thursday. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday it felt nice to just work in our area. Tonight I will be going on divisions with Hermana Pacheco who is an hermana temporal here and is waiting for her visa to go to the Trinidad de Tobago Mission where she will be speaking English. She is so cute and will be finishing up her training in a month. Yesterday, my companion (who I dearly dearly love) and I had a fun time seeking to be guided by Spirit since all of our plans fell through. We had a great day in the little branch -- the attendance continues strong in the 40´s/50´s so if we can keep this up construction of a capilla will be underway hopefully soon. Also my comp and I taught the relief society about the importance of las maestras visitantes and we had five investigators come, three of whom have plans to be baptized on the 30th of July. After Church meetings, we were ready to hit the streets and visit a few families. Our plans fell through so we found other things to do. We stopped by real quick with two new investigators who are a reference from a less active member we are visiting. They were really grateful for our visit. The last time we visited with them they shared with us that their 6 year old daughter wrote everything completely backwards, from right to left, all the letters mirrored the opposite way, everything. They shared their concern with us because the teacher doesn't help and gives her bad grades and their daughter doesn't understand why she is different. In that moment the scripture Éter 12 came to my mind where Moroni is writing about how he is weak in writing and is worried that those who read what he has written will mock his words. The Lord then gives him the famous promise that those who are humble will have weak things made strong unto them. I have always loved that scripture but have not ever understood why Moroni included that part about his ability to write being weak. In this moment, I realized the application of that scripture to this family and, like many other times in my mission, my testimony of El Libro de Mormón was strengthened. That book was written for our times and its words can be applied to our lives. In this particular occasion, I was able to share this story with a pair of worried parents and help them feel some comfort. Okay, so after we visited this family we started back down the street and I felt the impression to turn back and go down another street. At first I questioned "why?" but then I felt the impression again and told my companion we needed to go back. She told me that she had felt the same thing (by now I have learned to not question and just do it when I hear or feel something -- that is what I am here for. I have also realized that I don't need to be shaken on the shoulders or smacked in the face to know that El Espíritu Santo is communicating with me; it comes in very subtle passing thoughts) so we headed down a street that we have never been through, just walking and kind of waiting to feel or hear something again. Nothing in particular came so we knocked a random door just as it started to rain. HARD. As my comp says, "Está cayendo el cielo!" We ran to a little tienda next door where a woman named S told us to come on in and take shelter from the storm haha. We began to chat and she shared with us that she is Christian and is worried about her two teenage sons who are in this difficult time of making choices and avoiding temptation and all that, as well as her parents whose health is declining and she is taking care of them. She also shared with us that for awhile as a teenager she left the path and fell away from having a relationship with God but she eventually came back and is searching for more peace in her life. We were able to hit on a few good points of the Restored Gospel and teach her about El Plan de Salvación. It was really nice. Then it stopped raining just as our conversation was ending. She is interested in coming to Church with us and we will be looking for her this Friday. I don't know what will happen with her; all I know is I am grateful that my companion and I both followed the Spirit and met this lady. It is an incredible feeling to be an instrument in the hands of the Lord. I am just a small part of the huge plan He has and I am happy to do what He asks of me. Later, after a random joven contacted us in the street, we decided to stop by the home of a few ladies who had asked us to teach them. Once again, it started to rain hard and we huddled under the awning by her their house and had a great time talking about Mexican food. One of my favorite things is to rave about the food here -- I really do love it -- and then these people practically fall over themselves telling me about this and that and other family recipes they want to cook for me. This particular señora (her name is Y) wants to send me home with una prensa para tortillas and a molcajete -- the awesome rock bowls they use to make salsa. The people here are incredible, so kind and so loving. When you show them love, they give it to you right back. I love that about this culture and it is something I will miss. Other experiences...we had a great meeting with the first counselor of the obispado of the ward Izcalli, his wife who is la presidenta de la sociedad de socorro, and Elder Olson and Elder Camarillo who are working with us in la casa de oración. Some great things are in the workings for this little branch. This Wednesday we will be starting a weekly lectura of El Libro de Mormón where we will read and touch on parts of the assigned chapters that were given the week before. It will be a chance for the members and investigators to get to know each other and to hold to the rod of iron and make sure that these people are studying the key to our religion. We will also be starting a calendario of noches de hogar where families sign up to have us and a friend over during the week for family home evening and have a noche de hogar as a ward on the 23rd. The Elders, who just got here together starting this cycle, are so on top of it and the members are very supportive.

Okay, another experience we had a few weeks ago with two of our investigators who will be baptized on July 30th. They are brother and sister, L A who is 12 and D M who is 14. They have been to church two times now, have friends there their age, and absolutely love it. We are also teaching their mom A who is working on finding a testimony. Well during this lesson we were reading Mosiah 18: 8-11 with them about how the pueblo de Alma were getting ready to be baptized. They loved it and it helped them to better understand what the convenio del bautismo really is. Then it came time to extend them la invitación bautismal. L happily said yes right away with a big grin on his face. Then his sister began to tear up as she explained to us that she has done things in her life that she wants to change and be clean of. She said that now she understands that baptism and the Atonement is the way to do that. That was one of the most special experiences I have ever had in my life, to see someone who truly wants to come unto Christ and be forgiven and change. I love them so so so much and love being a missionary so so so much. It is the best thing I have ever done in my life and I am so happy to be here and give it all I have for these next five months que me falta todavia. I love the Savior. Okay I have to go now but I love you all back home -- have a bleeeast in Chicago :)

Love Hermana Honess (the sweet temple worker who greeted me called me that LOVE it)

(Parent Note: the Following email was sent on July 11, 2016)

Hey there! Thank you for sending all of the fun pictures from Chicago :) You all look so great! This week went by so fast. I have no idea what is going on with the time. I wake up, go walk around for awhile, and come home at night. It is crazy! I am so excited for our two adorable investigators who will be baptized on July 30th. They love coming to Church and are developing strong testimonies. This morning while reading a talk by Elder Rasband from the last General Conference I realized how important it is to strengthen the youth; they are the future leaders of the Church. I am so blessed to be a small part of D and L's lives and help them discover the blessings of the Gospel. A couple of cool experiences this last week. I spoke on sacred covenants yesterday in the casa de oración (which continues to have about 50 people consistently every week) and used the example of when Mom brought home the old smoke damaged dressers and, with a little work and polishing, uncovered the beautiful woodwork and made them like new and usable again. I related that to how, at times, we may feel so imperfect and that we do not have potential, but Heavenly Father sees something different in us. He knows our potential and what we can become; therefore, He has blessed us with covenants such as el bautismo, la recepción del don del Espíritu Santo, and La Santa Cena cada semana para renovar nuestros convenios. These make us clean, come closer to Christ, and reach the potential that God knows we have. I think this is one of my favorite Gospel principles of all time -- tenemos un amoroso Padre Celestial y somos Sus hijos. It is such an important truth. Yesterday, we met with a new investigator named G, his wife V, and their daughter X. Very chosen people. My companion found them during divisions this last week because she had been knocking another door across the street very loudly and finally G came out to tell her that no one was home haha. She and Hermana Sic left but my companion felt that she needed to go back so she did and he accepted an invitation to be taught. When we talked with him yesterday he really opened up and told us that he wants to stop drinking but needs help to do it. He asked lots of great questions and wants to know how he can feel the Spirit more in his life. I am very excited to teach them. The divorce process is underway with another couple we are teaching. They are living in union libre and one of them is still married to their ex but that should get done within a month where normally it takes a long time. They are truly repentant and want to do things right. They cannot wait to be baptized and take the Sacrament. I may not be here next cycle to see that but I am so grateful that they are progressing and making changes in their lives. That is one of my favorite things about being a missionary. I love you family. Thank you for your love and support. You all look so fine! The Schwartz Family has been in my prayers every day. Take good care of Sister Schwartz. Love you :)

Hermana Jones

Today (July 11, 2016) we played fútbol as a zone at the church :) My companion

and I bought a rotisserie chicken and a can of chipotles

 

Zone activity and a good day of fútbol at La Guarda on July 4, 2016. 

We enjoyed smashing our zone members in a combi! Some of the best people I have ever known! 

You see a little bit of everything here :)

Us with the assistants to the President and Elder Cervantez 

(he went to the same high school as my cousin Brayden)

I LOVE MEXICO!

Hello all. What a great day...we went to the Temple with Hermana C. She does our laundry almost every week and is one of my all-time favorite ladies. She is so kind and wonderful. I have had incredible people take care of me along the way during my mission. Also, yesterday, the 8 members of my District took people who have recently joined the Church to the Temple. We all went together in combis and had so much fun.

I am short on time but we experienced many wonderful miracles over the past week. First of all, we had five investigators in Church! I LOVE the little casa de oracion. There is such a special spirit there. We were able to teach las mujeres jovenes (young women) and it brought me back to all the wonderful times I had during our Laurel's class -- shout out to you Mom! There were just two of them including J who is 12, and M, our investigator who is 14 who has a baptismal date with her brother L on July 30. Woohoo! It was very special to spend time with the two of them during the last hour of Church. We didn't have a lesson planned because we weren't planning on teaching the class so we talked about how God is our loving Heavenly Father and this affects all that we do. It is one of my most favorite principios of the Gospel.

Me in front of a fruit/veggie/candy stand owned by a couple cool investigators who live in La Rey.

My awesome district from the last cycle. Four of them left and four new equally awesome Elders have taken their place.

This is the room where we had Young Women's class -- it is part of la casa de oracion. This was a couple weeks ago when we were helping clean before the first Sunday there.

The pictures above are of Conferencia de Zona de Ixtapaluca! Hermana Martinez and I trained about how important planning is in a little 10 minute workshop that we did four times (split up groups rotating around) and we were in charge of the fun activity to take a break during the conference. We did a relay race of sorts -- four teams of 8 missionaries each. The first compañerismo had to do 20 push-ups, then ran to the next pair who did "chubby bunny" (shoving 10 marshmallows in their mouths and saying "conejito gordito"), then that pair ran to the next who had to eat donuts off of strings without their hands, who then went to the last pair who had to blow up a balloon and sit on it to pop it. The first team who finished won chocolate -- like they needed any more sugar! It was a hit if I do say so myself :) We will be doing the same thing tomorrow in Los Reyes with the Los Reyes and Paraiso zones.

This pic is of the rooftops of a sweet mercado (market) where you can buy fruit and lots of other stuff super cheap. Gosh I LOVE MEXICO! I have a couple of very neat experiences to share with you next week. Just so you know, we have three baptisms lined up for July 30 and they are great people with more coming! Also, next Monday we are going to the Guarda with the two Ixtapaluca zones so I don't know how writing will go next week :) I love you so much and have a blast in Chicago!

Love you!

Hermana Jones