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Week 24: Quarantine... Yikes. 6 MILES!

Hey guys!

So I'm sorry that this email is gonna be another short one... I don't have too much time again!

We got a call today, and they told us that the next 21 days (hopefully ONLY 21 days) we will be in quarantine... oof.

But this week has been great! I love my new sector, my comp is great, and I went to some really sick waterfall like an hour ago.

Now for my two bits about the virus!

God has a prophet on earth to lead and guide the people, and as such, he has given us some guidance in the past few years helping us prepare for a situation such as this! I just gotta say, these past few weeks I have realized just how important it is to follow the prophet. So do it!!

But until next time... Love you guys!

Elder Jones

Photos! just a few from the waterfall!

Week 23: Outta The City.....B O I 5.75 Miles

Heyo!!

I'm gonna only write something super short...

Yesterday I was picking up a few friends to go to church. I went to my favorite investigator's house, and he literally gifted me a really cool Ecuador Jersey! And... even though he was super tired from work and didn't want to, he went to church 'cause he wanted to be there my last day. That was sick.

I had transfers!!! I am now in a cool city called Catamayo, and I already love it a lot. It's pretty big, and my sector is the whole thing! No pictures yet... I'll ascend some next week. Mostly wanted to let you all know I love you and love this work!

Elder Jones

Just a few pics of saying bye to Guayaquil... 

Week 22: 5 Months! 5.5 Miles

Hey friends!

This week was honestly not very exciting... sorry. But, Ecuador officially has 6 people with the Coronavirus! In Ecuador, that's a pretty big deal. Not only is Ecuador pretty small, but it's also not super equipped to handle a big medical problem... So basically the whole country is kinda freaking out. Like there is literally not a single store with medical equipment. Yikes! And on top of that, they discouraged meeting in large groups of people, and subsequently they canceled all church meetings. Oof.

Yesterday, we did get to have some pretty cool experiences. For instance, we went to visit a family in the ward, and since we didn't have sacrament meeting, we got to administer the Sacrament to them! I directed the meeting, and it was really a special experience. We gave them the opportunity to bear their testimonies, and each one of them took time to share. It was really cool to hear the little 6 year old as he shared that he knew that God loves him. I think that there is a lot that we can learn from the faith of little kids. It's no wonder Christ tells us that we must become as little children in order to inherit the Kingdom of God!

We went to visit my oldest friend in the ward. I remember going to his house in my very first week and he taught me a few new words, but I honestly couldn't even talk to him, my spanish was so bad! Anyway, he's a little old man that was just baptized a year ago, and he's great. We hadn't seen him in a month, and I felt like it was time to pay him a visit! So we stopped in and sat down to talk to him. Like I said, he's a little old man. Unfortunately, when he opened the door, I noticed that he had gotten quite a bit smaller, and frail. He began to tell us that he'd been going through cancer treatment in the past month, and his body was really rejecting the treatment. We asked him if he wanted a blessing, and he told us that he did. After giving him the blessing, he just sad there with his eyes filled with tears. We sat there with him like that for a while. Eventually, he told us, "I know that God has a plan for me. I know that he answers prayers. I have been praying that he would send me you two, and here you are. I know that my time isn't up." We testified to him that he has a work to do here on this earth. Not one of us had a dry eye as we left that home.

These experiences made me think a lot. I got to witness a little six-year old bear hsi testimony for the first time about how he knows that God loves him, and minutes later got to hear the same testimony from a man that is suffering from a life-threatening illness. And the testimony is the same. I want to add my testimony on top of theirs, and of millions of others. God loves you.

Jeffrey R. Holland has said, “However late you think you are, however many chances you think you have missed, however many mistakes you feel you have made or talents you think you don't have, or however far from home and family and God you feel you havetraveled, I testify that you have not traveled beyond the reach of divine love."

It's true. He wants each of us to reach out to Him in faith. So do it!

There WILL be miracles.

I love you all!

Elder Jones

Pictures: Just me and some pup

Week 21: I'm Back! 5.25 Miles

Coming to you live... two days late!

Sorry guys, I know that you all were sitting there refreshing your emails all day Monday... We were locked inside for Carnaval!! For those of you that have no idea what that is, it's basically a nation-wide water-fight/prank war and we had to be locked in!!! But it was really fun. We ordered pizza on Monday night and Burgers last night... Wow those burgers were good!

But... Just a lil update since we don't have too much time!

We are working super hard, and last week we found a whole bunch of new people to teach! It's super exciting to be teaching people that actually want to learn and accept your message! I'd love to say a lot more, but I think it'll have to wait for next week...

I love you all! The church is true! Jesus lives!

That's basically the message... 

PEACE!

Elder Jones

Photos: Me with spuma from carnaval, me playing piano while some random dude pretends to paint.

Week 20! House Hunting Ain't So Fun Anymore... 5 MILES!

Hello my dear friends!

So we got news that we are being kicked out of our house on the 29th, and we still don't have a house. YIKES. Needless to say, we've been doing double duty on not only contacting people to find people to teach, but also to find us an apartment! So, if any of you know of an apartment in Guayaquil, Ecuador, lmk. We actually did call some lady a few days ago, so hopefully that's the one!

An update on the rain situation: It rains every single day, often for the entire day. It's raining right now! But the rain is absolutely beautiful. It is ridiculously hot here, and the rain comes basically to save our lives.

Yesterday, we went to eat lunch with the Bishop's family, which was good. His 24 year old son was visiting, he literally just moved to Quito like three weeks ago. But he and I are pretty good friends! So we were talking for a little while after lunch, and he started telling me about life up in Quito. Basically, he lives in a friend's house, doesn't have a super stable job, and is living there to save up money to 1. get a place, and 2. save up money to be able to marry his girlfriend. Geez! But he seems really happy, and super confident. Anyway, eventually we had to get going. I asked if we could leave with just a little spiritual thought, something I usually like to do after eating with members. I shared Alma 32:27, one of my favorite scriptures. It reads,

 "But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words."

So I shared this super little scripture with my friend, and when I finished it, he looked at me with tears in his eyes! I didn't know what happened! He said, "I have nothing in Quito. I have no home, no steady job, just a girlfriend and a goal. Today I came home to pick up the rest of my clothes to bring to Quito, but this whole day I've been wondering if I should even really be doing this. If I will really be ok eventually. I've been doubting my whole decision to even move to Quito. I get that I need to have faith, and Heavenly Father is constantly telling me that I need to be there, but still I get scared." He then related the story of Peter walking on water. When Peter started to fall, Jesus said, "O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?"  Peter had the most faith of anyone! He had enough faith to even be able to walk on water!  But Jesus tells him that he's got little faith! I think that the point of this part of this scripture is that we can have so much faith, and see so many miracles, but still we doubt. I don't know why! But my friend told me that this scripture gave him a little push to have some faith. 

Guys, you never know when people need a little pick me up! If you feel like you should say something to someone, do it!

I love you guys!

Elder Jones

Pictures: Just an Iguana... sorry

Week 19: I Bless The Rains Down In Ecuador... 4.75 Miles

It happened.

Finally.

Since day one, I've heard unimaginable stories of absolute gallons pouring down from the Heavens. Guys, the rainy season started 2 and a half months ago. 2 and a half!!! But miraculously, after weeks of waiting, Saturday night- they came. There's a song or a saying that says, "When it rains, it pours." I am pretty sure that there is not a word in the English language (or Spanish, for that matter...) that can accurately describe what happened. Elder Paz and I were walking around looking for people to teach as we noticed this dark cloud start to take over the sky.I'm not sure I can even describe it as a cloud! Perhaps a better description for this event would be "We watched the midday sky turn black."  Literally, all of the street lights turned on at once, and a few drops of rain hit my nose as if to warn me of my impending doom. I honestly wasn't too concerned, I expected the rain to start out slowly and eventually get worse. I was wrong. As soon as I felt the last drop hit my nose, we heard a crack of thunder and all at once, it came. It was the weirdest thing, the rain wasn't even coming in drops, it was literally coming in buckets! We were being attacked by a million fire hoses from the heavens! After a minute or two, it became painfully apparent that using my umbrella was useless, so I just stood there in the rain. Guys, we were standing by the road waiting to cross, and as the cars drove by they sent up waves of water 10 feet high! Needless to say, we ran for home. With all the thunder and the lightning and rain, we were more than a little wary to leave.

That was really fun, not gonna lie!

But besides that, this week was pretty slooow. By Sunday morning, we had absolutely no new people to teach, and only one of the people that we were teaching had a date to be baptized. Needless to say, I felt a little discouraged! It's really weird that sometimes you can be giving your 110%, and it seems like your getting nothing in return! I wasn't about to give up, but boy was I tired! Sunday after church I sat down to have a planning session with my companion, and to start, I offered a prayer. I asked Heavenly Father what we needed to be doing differently. I told Him how I felt. I told Him I wanted to find new people to teach. When I finished my prayer, a thought popped into my head. "This is the Lord's Work." The Lord's. Not the work of Elder Paz, not the work of Elder Jones, or of Isaac Jones, or of the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It is the work of the Lord. I don't get to complain! What do I have to complain about? If I'm doing my part, the Lord will make up the rest! As we left the house, I said another prayer, just one of those quick little prayers that you say in your head or in your heart or wherever you wanna say it is. But I asked Heavenly Father for a little boost! Just to help me make it through the day. And then, we hit the concrete.

I swear I knocked on a million doors in the first hour, and not one person let us in! Now, one thing I think I mentioned in a previous email was that after the rain, the sun comes out, turning the entirety of Guayaquil into a pot of boiling water, and Elder Paz and I were the cobs of corn being steamed above it. Walking around in this humid hotness turned me absolutely tomato-red. But still, no one opened their door. Then, we decided to call an old investigator called Joseph. He answered and told us that it was his Birthday, and that he was with friends. Next thing I knew, he had invited us over to talk for a few minutes! So we went to his house and as we started the lesson he asked us about a million questions, the last of them being, "So when can I get baptized?"

Ding ding ding! Miracle!

After that, we went to visit an old investigator. We stopped visiting him a few months ago because he didn't have much time with his work, but every time he sees me, he likes to shout out, "AY, CHONE!" I guess when I told him my name was Elder Jones, he heard "Elmer Chone." It took about half an hour to explain that my name is not Elmer, but Elder is just a title. I never had time to explain to him that my last name was "Jones," but oh well.

So we were walking by his house, and as always he called out, "AY, CHONE!" I shouted back "AY, ARMANDO!" And I asked when we could visit him and his family. He answered by opening up the door and motioning us to enter! His family ended up being busy, but we taught him for a little bit, and then his friend entered, so we taught her, and he pulled in another friend, and we ended up teaching the three of them about the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

Boom. Another Miracle.

I guess what I'm saying is this week I learned to trust God more. I'm not here so that I can find more people to teach, or to find people to baptize so I can have cool stories or whatever, I'm here because I know God's plan. I know that I will live with my family for eternity. I know that I can be better each day. I am here so that my brothers and sisters, fellow children of an infinitely loving Father in Heaven, can have the hope and comfort that I have.

My friends, if you haven't, I'd encourage you to read the story of the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I testify that through the Prophet Joseph Smith, Jesus Christ restored his Church to the Earth. You can know that Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God as you understand the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. The Prophet Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon, and as you read that book and feel of it's authenticity, you will also know that Joseph Smith was called of God.

I know this email has been pretty long, sorry! I just want to finish with the word of one of the Lord's living Twelve Apostles Elder Jeffrey R. Holland who said, 

"I ask that my testimony of the Book of Mormon and all that it implies, given today under my own oath and office, be recorded by men on earth and angels in heaven... I want it absolutely clear when I stand before the judgment bar of God that I declared to the world, in the most straightforward language I could summon, that the Book of Mormon is true, that it came forth the way Joseph said it came forth and was given to bring happiness and hope to the faithful in the travail of the latter days."

It is true. Read it and know.

I love you all!! 

Elder Jones

P.S.: This talk by Elder Holland is SICK! It talks more about the Book of Mormon... https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2009/10/safety-for-the-soul?lang=eng

Pictures!! 1. A pretty rad view from the top of a member's apartment building 2. the first "noche de hogar" or family home evening that I conducted all by myself (I'm all grown up) 3. My comp and me after the rain storm.

Week 18: House Hunters... 4.5 Miles!

Hello my dear friends!

This week has been quite something! First, to explain the subject line:

My companion and I are officially fed up with the 10 dogs that like to have very loud conversations in the middle of study time, night-time, and every other time. Not to mention our neighbor is a large man that enjoys sitting on his balcony without a shirt and stare into our window, definitely creepy, especially when it's three in the morning and you just want a cup of water! Anyway, thanks to these strange incidents and countless more, we have received permission to look for a new house! We've heard legend of one that has Air Conditioning, we honestly don't really care about what else it has, if it has AC we WANT IT. 

Anyway, we're keeping that house in our prayers ;).

My companion's name is Elder Paz, and he's from Bolivia. Like my previous companion, he doesn't speak a lick of English, but the difference is that now I CAN SPEAK SPANISH! Obviously not perfectly, but he and I can talk to each other about just about anything, and it's way nice! Anyway, he taught me to make this thing called 'payuje' which is basically mashed plantains and sugar and cinnamon. I don't even know how to describe the taste, but it's AMAZING. We put it in a cup with milk and it kinda tastes like a smoothie... anyway we eat it day and night. It's pretty dang good! 

My comp and I are getting along great! We are working really hard and my legs hurt from walking so much... but today we are going to Isla Santay with the zone leaders, which is basically this really pretty island that we get to see on a bike, so I think my legs might hurt even more... oh well!

Being the 'old' elder in the zone, my companion doesn't know anyone. He's a little shy, which makes me basically the senior companion... I have to lead the discussions and talk to people a lot... it's definitely helping me improve my Spanish and teaching skills, but it's also wearing me out! 

This week I've really learned a lot about growth. I definitely did not feel ready to lead my sector, but I just had to do it! As I've jumped in head first, I've learned a lot, and fast. I can see the progress I've made in just about every aspect in only this short week, and I'm super grateful for the opportunity! I'm still utterly exhausted, but I feel a lot more prepared as a missionary now. I'm seeing this same pattern in just about everything, if you want to experience growth, you just have to dive in. If not, I would not feel this good with teaching, or speaking, or with anything at all! I guess that's life!!

I miss you all! Hope to hear from you soon!

Elder Jones

Sorry... only one picture (and I'm not even in it)

Week 17: I'm Starting To Think My Mission Is To Play Piano... 4.25 Miles

Heyo!

This week was a good one, and a ton of stuff happened, but I have to keep it short cause I'm kinda running low on time...

To start out the week, we had companionship exchanges! That was fun. I was with my district leader, Elder Carhuatocto. He's an absolute hoot! His sector had a baptism this week, and as I told y'all last week, my ukulele skills were put to the test. Five of us Elders went up and sang 'Soy un hijo de Dios,' which went really well. The next day was zone conference, and in addition to playing the special musical number, I had to play the hymns for the meeting. same thing happened again on sunday.

I am sorryyyyy I'm sure you all are super tired about hearing about my musical adventures, but honestly that's the hardest part for me right now!

That said... this week is cambios, and... ELDER AVILA LEFT ME. I'm still a fairly new missionary, but I'm gonna lead my sector! We'll see how that goes... I have yet to meet my new comp. Right now, I'm actually chillin with Elder Carhuatocto! 

I made no bake cookies. That was fun for about two days, and then they were gone. I'm pretty sure I sleep-ate some. oops...

This week I had a really cool experience in a lesson. I was sitting there, and to be honest I had no idea what to say. But I remembered a promise that if I just tried and opened my mouth, the lHoly Ghost would fill my mouth with what to say. So I did it! Guys, I literally spoke using words I didn't know I knew. So that was pretty sick.

So. To quote my friend from the mission, keep on doing the things the Lord commands, and you're gonna see miracles.  I don't know about you, but I like me a good miracle.

PEACE OUT!

Elder Jones

Pictures! me and Elder Carhuatocto, me with the district.

Week 16: I've Got The Music In Me! 4 Miles In!

Elder Jones is back for another episode of: "¿How fast can you learn a hymn on the piano?" with tonight's special on the ukulele...

That's right folks, some people have got it in their heads that I can play piano "durisimo." oof. Here's the scoop:

Tuesday night I was just chillin at home, eating my nightly bowl of fruity pebbles, and the phone rings. So naturally, I answer it. Come to find one of the zone leaders of a DIFFERENT zone has heard that I can play piano. He then proceeded to ask me to accompany his zone in zone conference. BA-BAM! That's TWO gigs! So I show up to practice, and this guy throws the music to this song in front of me, and two minutes later, I'm playing with the choir. Ahhh!! It's hard... but really fun tbh.

Flash-forward to Thursday night. That day I'd picked up a ukulele I bought from one of the members in my ward, and I was busy jamming out to hymns on my brand new uku! And, you guessed it, I got a call. This time it was my district leader. He goes, "Soooo we have this baptism program for next week, and we wanna have a special musical number. I heard you bought a ukulele, and play like a boss. Will you play ukulele next week for the program?" (By the way, all of this is happening in spanish, which I can speak now ;)) So I responded, "Sure!!!" Which is, in Spanish, "¡¡¡Claaaro!!!" Or something like that... anyway now I've got three 'gigs.' But I'm pumped.

An update on the remix that I told y'all about last week: I got handed a violinist and a guitarist, and told, "go crazy." I about went crazy, because I hadn't written out any music or anything to follow, so I had to explain how to play this song... in spanish... without any music to help me. Lemme tell ya, now that we all know what is going on, it sounds SICK.

One day this week, we had just left our lunch appointment and we were about to go looking for some people to teach. We just had to make a quick pit-stop to get our iron fixed. While we waited outside for the problem with the iron, some guy pulled up in his wheels. I use the word wheels because that was the only thing that obviously categorized the machine as a car. anyway, this guy pulls up and starts asking us if some address was in our area. We said yes, and he basically told us to hop in. We did. (The mission is kinda weird like that.) So we pulled up to some house and met the lady that lives there. She was super sweet! But for the next four hours, being the only one in the building that knew how to use a drill, I was drilling holes. That was really fun... but I left with a no-longer white shirt.

Things are good in Ecuador! I think I'm finally experiencing the heat that everyone's been warning us about... yes. It's worse. But I'm living!

Love you all!!! 

Hope to hear from you :)

Elder Jones

Week 15: The Rise Of Elder Jones... 3.75 miles

Hello everyone!

This week has been exceptional! I am finally feeling comfortable with my spanish! I wish you guys could see it, I'll be sitting there and TALKING with someone in SPANISH!!! It's the coolest thing, sometimes it feels like a superpower. That said, sometimes I don't feel comfortable in my spanish... Usually it's when people are talking about something really specific, like how to treat a broken wrist or how to fix the back axle of an old motorcycle. When those conversations are going on, I mostly just sit there and smile! But it's a good time, I'm getting to know the people in my ward a lot better, and I am finally contributing a lot in the lessons!

This week we found a really interesting guy, I'll call him Jorge. Jorge was given a Book of Mormon by some missionaries in 2007, and being very interested in religion and stuff like that, he read it all the way through. Dang! So then, back in 2017, some missionaries found him and taught him one lesson, and they decided to never come back because some of his ideas are... interesting. And then we found him. When we knocked on his door, he immediately invited us in to have some water, which was very much appreciated and very quickly gone. So we began to talk. He told us about all of his religious ideas including aliens living in the sun, mind control, and a lot of other things. For a while, we just sat there listening to his theories, answering his questions, and just trying to explain the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It didn't go so well. We were talking in circles! There was literally no point to the lesson! Finally, I asked him to grab his Book of Mormon, which he did. I asked him if he believed it was true. He said yes! From there, I began to explain the importance of the  Book of Mormon as the keystone of our religion. He took it well,and even started reciting some of his favorite verses from the Book of Mormon! We taught him about the history of the Book of Mormon, and the importance of the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in conjunction with it. We invited him to pray to know if the church is true, and he promised that he would.

The interesting part of this story is that some of his ideas about religion are actually correct! But without a base and a strong foundation on understanding the doctrine and principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, he was just lost. As we left, he said this:

"Before you guys came to visit me, I felt confused. I want so bad to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ and the commandments of God, but I have no idea what the truth is. I believe that these other churches have a part of the truth, but shouldn't there be one church like in the Bible? One with Twelve Apostles? What about Prophets? And how can there be the Authority of God on the Earth when John was the last prophet? But your message makes me feel full. I still have lots of questions, but I really feel like there is something in me, and the first time the missionaries came to visit me, I didn't feel that, I guess now I'm finally ready."

WOW. Needless to say, there was much rejoicing! My companion and I know that what we are bringing to these people is the truth, and when we follow the guidance of the spirit, we see miracles. It happens every day. But with Jorge, I really learned the importance of the Spirit in learning, especially when learning about religion and Jesus Christ! He has studied religious books and sermons and attended services for years, but that just made him feel more lost. With the simple basic truths of the Gospel, Jorge has felt the guidance of the Spirit! What an amazing experience.

Besides that, this week was HOT. And I mean HOT. I literally constantly look like I just got out of the pool, the sweat is so bad. Some days it pours. POURS! I was soaked to the bone after like 5 minutes of rain, and my shoes are still drying 3 days later. And, like I said, the sun evaporates all of the water, turning the city of Guayaquil into a sauna. You should see the looks we get as people see us walking around in the street all day in pants, white shirts, and ties! Believe me, we know how crazy we look! But hey, we're on the Lord's errand! What's a little heat? Or even a lot of heat?! 

Oh, in Ecuador they have these little ice cream sticks called "Choco Bananos," which are heavenly. Basically, it's a frozen banana filled with chocolate, and then dipped in chocolate. Between those and the amazing ice cream sandwiches of Ecuador, my companion and I are surviving the "winter."

One last thing! At the end of the month, my zone of 10 Elders is going to sing in front of a (large) part of the mission for a devotional to celebrate the 200th year since Joseph Smith's first vision. Of course, I got called on to play piano. I got together with another Elder in the zone, Elder Layton, and we created a super cool mashup of "Praise to the Man," and "Battle-Hymn of the Republic." It's pretty cool, if I do say so myself! What a powerful group, a bunch of Elders singing about the Restoration of Christ's Church! I get shivers as we sing, "Glory, Glory, Hallelujah! His truth is marching on."

I love you all, and I hope you are enjoying the winter wherever you may be! For those of you that are in the cold, please send some my way. I'm DYING.

I miss you guys! Don't forget to write me :)

With Love,

Elder Jones

Pictures: The Hammock strikes again!, Eating bolones with Elder Johnson

Week 14: The Gatekeeper... 3.5 Miles

Hey guys!

This week was really fun! We had exchanges with the zone leaders, which is basically when we switch companions for two days. That was super fun! I was with Elder Johnson, and it was fun to be able to speak english with someone! We had a really fun time, and a few really crazy stuff happened. So, Imma tell y'all one of them!

We went to visit with a guy that we are teaching, and his house is in this gated block, so when we got there, we stopped outside the block to call him to let us in. As we stopped, I leaned on the gate, and it opened! Woohoo! So we walked in, walking past these two guys-being missionaries, we greeted them with a huge smile- and they gave us the strangest look, but we just walked to the house. After just a few minutes, we were all called outside by a group of angry drunk men, who started shouting at us, saying, "how did you get in here?" and "do you have a key?" and "did you use magic?!" So that was strange. We explained the situation to them, and one of them finally let us go. But then as we left, this guy started shouting at us in English telling us that we better watch our backs, and we weren't welcome back there. That was weird because it is a public neighborhood... so we are going back on Wednesday!

Ecuador is great, my spanish is finally pretty good, and I love being a missionary. Sorry for the short email and no pictures, but I have like no time ever!

Love you all!

Elder Jones