Week 95: We're Getting Tons of Blessings

4/25/16

Hey everyone!

Thank you for all the birthday wishes! I had a great day yesterday. It's always nice to know there are those that are aware of you!

As far as missionary work is concerned, our investigators are doing great. Jackie is still set for May 7th. Those kids who are waiting to get baptized still need their adoption papers to get finalized. Our recent converts in the Silverstone ward are the best! Elder Ernst and I are enjoying this companionship. We are teaching a lot! We are learning even more! The most important thing: the Lord is in the details!

We had a wonderful day at church yesterday! The sacrament was great, of course. The best part of going to church was seeing how many of our investigators came and actually enjoyed it! Sister Verley, the lady who got baptized in February, spoke in sacrament meeting, along with her husband. They are such an amazing couple. Brother Verley bore sincere testimony of how returning to activity in the church has changed his life forever. They also hinted that they will be sealed in the temple in July 2017. I hope I get to go! 

I also had the opportunity to speak in one of the 3 sacrament meetings we attended. This was probably the first time in awhile that I realized that I, ironically, enjoy public speaking. It's weird how comfortable you feel at the pulpit when you spend enough time there. Missionaries get their fair share; believe me.

I found a scripture this morning that I really enjoyed:

"And now, my brethren, I desire that ye shall plant this word in your hearts, and as it beginneth to swell even so nourish it by your faith. And behold, it will become a tree, springing up in you unto everlasting life. And then may God grant unto you that your burdens may be light, through the joy of his Son. And even all this can ye do if ye will. Amen." (Alma 33:23)

It's good to know that because of the Savior, we can have joy and our burdens can be light!

Love you! Have a great week!

Elder Jones

Week 94: 'With Wings as Eagles...'

4/18/16

Hey everyone!

Hope y'all are doing great!

My week was pretty good. The transfer started off a little slow, but quickly picked up by the end of the week. We have a lady set for baptism on May 7th who is just so excited to get baptized. She attended a baptismal service this past weekend, and loved it. And then she showed up to church about 20 minutes early. We are so excited because she just seems so committed. We only found her about 3.5 weeks ago too!

I'm so nervous. Time is going by way too quickly. President and Sister Ahlander seem so anxious as well about going home. We had a leadership training meeting this past week in which they told us to focus on the hard work that we are putting forward rather than just the things we needed to fix as leaders. Compared to two years ago, the this mission has grown so much. The missionaries are much more obedient, their testimonies more substantive, and their conversions are just contagious! The assistants talked about what makes us successful missionaries. The most important thing to remember is that a successful missionary is one committed to his or her purpose, that being to find, teach, and baptize. This is the only time in a young person's life that this will be their central focus, and I'm going to miss it.

I love Elder Holland's talk from conference, and guess what? He is coming to do a mission conference for us and the Las Vegas Mission. That means we'll get to meet some East Vegas missionaries! I love this scripture from Elder Holland's talk:

But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. (Isaiah 40:31)

I hope y'all have a wonderful week. Look for the Lord's blessings and for missionary opportunities.

Have a great week!

Elder Jones

Week 93: Families can be together forever!

4/11/16

Hey everyone!

Hope y'all are doing well! I always have to remember that when the days get long, that life is pretty short. Sure, we'll all be able to enjoy the eternities forever; but then again, God also wants us to enjoy mortality together. I have been able to have moments on my mission that have both played into the moment and into the eternities.

We had a really good last week of the transfer! It is getting a little scary for sure, with this being my last full transfer. Elder Anderson ended up being transferred and my new companion is Elder Ernst. I served around him in my last area. He has been out for about 9 months. He is from New York! I'm pretty excited to be his companion this should be a good transfer.

Last week, Elder Anderson and I were able to do a lot. I went with Dan and Pat to their endowment and temple sealing last week! That was amazing. The spirit was so strong. It was great to see them, as well as everyone else from Logandale. We also were able to baptize one of our investigators. His name is Eric. He was the one who had been taking the lessons for a long time and finally decided to get baptized. That was pretty awesome. He seems so happy now that he has been baptized and confirmed. 

Another really cool experience was that Elder Anderson and some other missionaries taught Jackie while I was at the temple on Tuesday. They set her with a date for baptism on May 7th and she was apparently quite excited for it! We were worried because she didn't make it to church yesterday, and so we went to visit her. She said she had intentionally missed church to go tell her pastor that she has decided to be baptized as a Mormon because she wants to be happy. She has been consistently reading the Book of Mormon, too! This transfer has a lot of potential in terms of how many people we will be able to baptize! I feel so blessed that Heavenly Father has allowed me to be here. Las Vegas West = the best!

I hope you all have a wonderful week! 

,

Elder Jones

Week 92: I Love Conference Weekend! #LDSConf

4/4/16

Hey everyone!

General conference was awesome! I tried to prepare to hear the words of the Prophet and the Apostles this time more than usual.

A few of the talks stood out to me - specifically President Eyring's opening talk on Saturday, Elder Stevenson's talk, Elder Nelson's talk
from priesthood session, and Elder Holland's talk! I loved Elder Nelson's gentle rebuke in regards to the men of the church and
priesthood power! He essentially said that if there's anything you need to fix, make an about-face right now instead of procrastinating
the day of your repentance. I definitely felt the need to be a bit better, and I'm glad that he made his comments direct enough to get
his point across. We have been ordained to the priesthood, but do we really allow ourselves to access it in times of need (personal
worthiness)?

We had some awesome experiences! We watched a session of conference at our bishop's house yesterday. We invited one of our investigators (a
lady who lives down the street) to come. She said how she feels so good after meeting with us and after she watched conference, she felt
the same way! It was great because she has progressed so much in the 2 weeks that we have been teaching her. She said that she hopes to be
baptized one day, so we will keep on her so that she will get there, hopefully soon!

We found a bunch of new investigators this past week! One we found at around 8:30 in the evening. He was walking his dog when we met him. We
shared a brief one minute message with him and he said he would love to hear more. That was on April 1st so hopefully it wasn't a prank.

Hope y'all have a great week!

Elder Jones