The weight's not too heavy...

Hey everyone!

I just want to let you know that all in all, being a missionary is awesome! Sure there are tough times, but it is really neat to share the gospel with a ton of people. I have had so many cool opportunities this week, it's hard not to be grateful.

The coolest thing to happen this past week would have to be going on exchanges with my zone leader Elder Carson in his area. He's probably the nicest person I have ever met. He has made charity a part of himself. We were able to teach 3 lessons on Friday, and each of them were really spiritually uplifting. The last lesson we taught that day was with a young man who lives in a very sketchy part of Las Vegas. This young man has had so many interactions with church members in the last couple months that he is convinced that God is trying to tell him something. I'm pretty convinced of that too. We taught him about the Restoration. When we got to the part about Joseph Smith, I read to him the account of the First Vision and then asked, "How crazy is that? That a kid like that was able to talk to God is just incredible, right?" And the young man got the biggest smile on his faith, started to laugh, and said that he believed it. It was so cool! We even invited him to baptism. He said yes at first, but once he realized the kind of commitment that he would be making (keep the commandments, go to church every week) he backed off a little bit. He did say that if he was to get baptized, he would want me, the zone leaders, and his friend who shared the gospel with him to be there. It's so awesome to see the excitement that some investigators have!

Another awesome experience was that the young girl we have set for baptism came to church yesterday. Her grandma has not been active for a long time, but expressed interest in coming to church again. After sacrament meeting, we talked with the grandma and she said she really enjoyed it, and that she wants to come next week. Our hopes are if we can get the grandma active, to feel the Spirit, and become converted, that the girl will be able to find that conversion as well. One of our area's biggest problems is retention; I really don't want to see this girl get baptized and then stop coming to church because then we'd be responsible for having baptized someone who wasn't ready. That's not what Heavenly Father wants.

Even so, the responsibility that we have is what makes our efforts worth it. If I am doing everything I am asked to do and strive to accomplish the tasks at hand, Heavenly Father won't hold any blessings back. If I don't do what I'm asked, why would He even bother helping me? Everything in this mission, in this life, or in this gospel, is tied directly to obedience and effort. Heavenly Father actively tells us, "I, the Lord, am bound when ye do what I say, but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise." (D+C 82:10) It's not even our will that get's the job done; it is when we try to be like the Savior and say, "Not my will, but thine, be done." (Luke 22:42) If I don't talk to that person, I'm responsible for not sharing the gospel with them. Heavenly Father has commanded all of us (not just set-apart missionaries) to do missionary work, so it is really important that we show our the Lord that we are willing to do what He asks of us.

I would like to challenge each of you to look for opportunities to share the Gospel with someone this week. I can promise that if you are actively studying, praying, and searching, that the Lord will give you courage and opportunities to help change peoples lives. If you have any neat experiences, write me and tell me about them. We are uplifted and edified when we share our testimonies with others!

I love all of you so much. Thank you so much for all of the good things that each of you do in your everyday lives. It's not always the big things so much as it is the small things that we do for others that really influences other people's lives.

Keep in touch! 

Send letters or emails, and just let me know how you all are doing. I'd love to hear from each of you!

Love,

Elder Jones

Week 11 - Learning to listen to the Spirit!

Zachary Jones

 Sep 8, 2014

Hey everyone!

 

I hope you all are doing well, and I want to let you all know how grateful I am for each and everyone of you. I'm not sure that I would be where I am at without the friendships and guidance that I have received from all of you. I've realized that Heavenly Father has to be real because it was He who allowed me to grow up with such wonderful people.

 

Dad asked me about my insights in from the temple a couple weeks ago. I don't think Heavenly Father would mind me sharing the one insight that I had. I've been troubled a little bit over the past couple weeks because oftentimes I am not always sure how to tell the difference between a prompting from the Spirit and my own thoughts. Before going to the temple, I had the opportunity to fast and to pray with the rest of the mission. When I was sitting in the Celestial room, I was thinking about this particular issue and what the answer might be. Does Heavenly Father smack us up by the head or yell in our ears to get us to listen? No, not really... The answer that I received was Him finishing my thought for me. The difference between a prompting and my own thoughts, as I was told, is where I am standing. That doesn't mean that I have to be physically standing in a particular spot or "have enough bars" to pick up Heavenly Father's frequency; I need to put myself in the right frame of mind by being obedient, and actively searching for an answer. To me, that's what it really means to "stand in holy places". Our bodies can be temples if we are actively trying to purify our lives.

 

But enough about me. We were able to teach a couple of lessons this past week. One of those was to our 12 year old investigator. We taught her about obedience, prayer, ad scripture study. It was really neat because I felt like I was actually being guided while teaching the lesson. Sorry Brother Pace, but I even had a prompting to give her my 5-minute ponder card. You wouldn't mind sending me another one, would you? ;)

 

I am also blessed to have an awesome Ward Mission Leader. Brother Truman is amazing. He does so much for my companion and I, as well as our zone. He was called to be Ward Mission Leader as I got into the ward. He has so many ideas and thoughts on missionary work; I am just excited to continue working with him. One of his big things involves large ward gatherings on a regular basis. I know we do those at home, but it would probably be good if you did them as often as possible. They're a great way to break the ice with less-actives and non-members by just showing them that we're not weird at all!

 

Well, I hope you all know that I love you! I think about home a lot (probably too much) with the knowledge that I will see all of you in 22 months. I want to come back different, not so different that I'm not recognizable, but different enough for you all to see how much the Lord has changed and refined me. Missions make boys into missionaries, but Christ makes those missionaries into men (I came up with that on the fly; I thought it was pretty cool).

 

If you really want Christ to change you, stop wrestling with the Spirit and just let it happen. Do what He wants you to do and I promise you will be different. You will be better.

 

Keep in touch. Write letters, send emails, smoke signals, etc. I just want to hear how you all are doing!

 

Love,

Elder Jones

 

 

 

Week 10 - Commandments give us protection, growth and improvement.

Zachary Jones

Sep 2 at 5:56 PM

Hey everyone!

Sorry about the late email! Yesterday was Labor Day so the library was closed. I hope everyone is doing well, and just want you all to know that I love you all so much!

Things here are going well too. This last week we didn't have much going on because the school year just started and people are just getting back into the swing of things with summer and vacations being over. We still were able to do a lot of awesome things this past week. For one, we were able to attend the temple. The Las Vegas Temple is so amazingly beautiful, I was just so happy to be able to spend a few hours there. I even received answers to some questions that I have had.

I also began my 2nd transfer last week! It's crazy how time flies. I just hope that I can make the most of the Lord's time, seeing as I have been called here to serve Him for two years. My trainer was also just called as District Leader. He's such a good Elder in that he knows his purpose and he really wants to fulfill it as best as he can.

One thing that I have been thinking a lot about is the commandments. Heavenly Father gives them to us for our protection, but also for our growth and improvement. He wants us to become like Him; he wouldn't give us any commandment or law that He doesn't already live Himself. I remember how Dad committed me to "obey with exactness". I don't want to lie and say that I have been perfect at it so far, but I can definitely say that I have seen the difference between how I feel when I obey with exactness and when I don't. I'm clearly not as effective in finding or teaching, or any other situation that I get myself into if I haven't prepared myself well enough. I'm trying so hard, but sometimes I feel like a mess up and need to give up, but God doesn't ask us to be perfect, He just asks us to be willing. 

I found a scripture in Mosiah 2:22 that illustrates my point nicely:

And behold, all that he requires of you is to keep his commandments; and he has promised you that if ye would keep his commandments ye should prosper in the land; and he never doth vary from that which he hath said; therefore, if ye do keep his commandments he doth bless you and prosper you.

All that Heavenly Father requires of us is to keep the commandments. We just need to be willing to give up our pride so that we can submit our will to His and  keep an eye single to His glory. If we do so, He will bless us in ways we can't imagine.

Like I said, it's been a bit of a slow week so no really neat or crazy stories to tell. Hopefully there are more next week, but until then, I love you all!

Stay safe, keep in touch, and be good!

Love,

Elder Jones

Week 9 - Crazy Week

Hey everyone!

It has been one crazy week! We have had so much going on. We've been able to teach several lessons, and even put on an entire ward function with the help of our ward mission leader. Even better, today begins transfer #2!  Needless to say, I am pretty tired.

A few weeks ago, we were out tracting and we met this guy named Dave. He seemed like a really nice guy, and told us that we could come back, but that he was pretty busy at the moment. We have been trying to call him on and off for several weeks to set up an appointment, but for some reason he just kept pushing it off. He finally had some time to meet last week, and so we taught him and his son about the Plan of Salvation. Before we got to the main point of the lesson, that through Christ families can be together forever, he said that he believed that "heaven would only be heaven if he had those that he loved there with him". That part of the lesson was so awesome and powerful that even shared with us that "something had told him to let us into his house." We did not invite him to baptism yet, but we're hoping that we can meet with him sometime this week or next to teach him about the Restoration. (The prayer he said at the end of the lesson was awesome!!)

We also were able to teach an active family and a less-active in our ward about the Plan of Salvation. She joined the church, and then prepared herself to go to the temple to receive her endowments, but got freaked out when she actually received them. So we taught her the Plan of Salvation with a temple spin on the lesson. It was probably the best lesson that Elder Tillotson and I have taught together so far. Everything flowed, and after the lesson, the active member family told us we did a great job. What was even better was that the less-active woman told us that we did a great job as well, and that she believed everything we said. She's still freaked out by the temple, but we just have to remember, baby steps.

Our ward mission leader, Elder Tillotson, and I were also responsible for putting on the ward's annual chili-cookoff. That was tricky because we ordered bounce houses, called to remind almost everyone in the ward the night before, and had to make scones for the chili. Most of Saturday night was spent rolling bread dough and then frying it to make the scones. They were good, but we were at it for almost 2 hours. The event was engineered to invite a non-member family who moved into the area recently to one of our ward functions. Guess where that family is from...Kansas City, MO!! Even more interesting is the fact that they moved into the area about 7 weeks ago, pretty much the same time that I got here. They had a great time, and we will try to follow up with them in the next couple weeks. Ithink that Heavenly Father has something in mind for that family, and I hope that I can be a part of it.

Just a shout-out to all of you thinking about serving missions, make serving a mission a *priority.* The opportunity that all of us have to serve the Lord with all our heart, might, mind, and strength is a once-in-a-lifetime chance. Although I still have a *long *way to go, I can already feel some changes in myself. I have found myself *wanting* to be obedient and *wanting *to be humble because I want to become better, and by so doing, maybe I can be an instrument in the Lord's hands to help other people move closer to having eternal life. Even though I still haven't perfected obedience, humility, charity, I believe that the desire to perfect those traits is something that can help anyone improve; and just remember, the Lord blesses us according to our *desires* as well as our needs.

I love all of you! Stay safe, keep in touch, send pictures, and just let me know how you all are doing. I love reading emails and letters, and I am sure that the other 85,000 missionaries in the world do too! I can't wait to hear from any of you!

Love,

Zach

p.s. Good luck to McKinzie, Hannah, and Eliza as you all start the fall semester at BYU and BYU-Hawaii! You all will do great!

Monsoon

Mini Me

Hey everyone!

After our apartment was inspected, it became apparent that we didn't have bed bugs. So they actually let us off quarantine! Hurray!! It was really boring being stuck in the apartment for 4 days, but I actually got a lot done. I read a lot in the Book of Mormon, as well as read several other books that our Ward Mission Leader Brother Truman bought for us. One that I read is called The Continuous Conversion by Brad Wilcox. It has so much truth in it. The main idea of the book is that we are here in this life, "not to 'earn' our way to heaven, but to 'learn' our way there." It was really a neat book to read; I might just mail home my copy so that Mom and Dad can read it!

Anyway, the excitement didn't let up once we were off quarantine. In Nevada, August is part of "monsoon" season, meaning that when it rains, it pours. We were riding our bikes to our dinner appointment after doing some service for a sister in the ward, when all of a sudden it started to sprinkle. Elder Tillotson and I didn't think much of it so we kept going. The rain started to pick up a little and we started getting wet, so we hid under a tree to wait for the storm to blow over. Then the wind start to pick up and the rain started to come down in big, fat droplets. Last but not least, it started to hail, so my companion and I hid behind a brick wall to get out of the wind. We called our dinner appointment and told them we were going to be a bit late because of the storm. 

A tree that was knocked over during monsoon

When we got to their house, the brother who greeted us said sarcastically, "You look a little wet!" We were drenched, so yeah we were wet. Then he told us to get out of our clothes so he and his wife could dry them. They gave us bath robes to cover up while our clothes were being dried, and so we ate dinner with them just like that. IN BATH ROBES...It was pretty awkward, but it's cool to think that now I have funny and quirky mission stories of my own now.

The week wasn't without spiritual experiences, either. This area overall has been pretty difficult to try to get something going in terms of missionary work. There are lots of less-actives and gated communities (which we aren't allowed to tract in). Most of the tractable parts of the area have been hit repeatedly over the last couple transfers, and frankly, people are tired of seeing us around. This makes us cherish the opportunities in which the people we contact actually listen to us.

We met this guy named Gus. He and his grandson were polishing his old 1966 Chrysler 300 in his car. So what did we do? We started talking to him. Come to find out he's been to St. George, Utah. He said he was a little bothered by Mormons because when he tried to go into one of our churches, they wouldn't let him in. We pretty quickly figured out that he had tried to go into the temple. We had to explain the differences between our temples and meetinghouses. Then he even let us share the first lesson with him! He didn't seem turned off by it at all, and even said we could come back pretty much anytime! We invited him to pray about the message of the Restoration, but he appears to be having a rocky relationship with God. Hopefully, the next time we meet with him that he will have that desire to talk to our Heavenly Father!

I just want you all to know that, yes, missionary work is hard. There are a lot of days and moments when I wonder to myself what I'm doing here. I sometimes wonder if I am wasting my time. Needless to say, it's quite easy to get discouraged. But the moments that I apply myself, my faith, and my determination to help the non-members and less-actives come closer to the Savior are the moments that are most dear to me. I'm here because I want to be here. I want to help people to know that Jesus Christ is there for them, that he truly wants what is best for them. I really know, and should always remember that God loves me; however, He loves the people that I am teaching just as much. No matter how many miles I ride my bike, or how many slammed doors, or even how little sleep I sometimes get, I can't afford to forget that. There are souls at stake here.

I love you all! Be safe, keep in touch, and send pictures! I want to know how you all are doing.

Love,

Zach

P.S. Happy early birthday Wilkin!! I love you bro! (I know it's tomorrow, but I am sending the email now)

My room mates who are going home this week

Don't let the bed bugs bite...

Hey family!

It's so good to hear from all of you! I'm glad that everything at home is going well, and I just want you to know that everything is going well over here, too. This week has been fairly slow, and we haven't been able to do much because there have been tons of meetings and trainings that our zone has had to take part in. Add that to the fact that my companion, my roommates, and I have been quarantined in our apartment over the last 2 or 3 days due to an infestation of "bed bugs" :\ that has gone around the mission. I'm pretty sure we don't have them, but we can't leave our apartment complex until the mission checks our room.

Last week we had the opportunity to go to Zone Conference. That was so awesome (if you want the pictures from that, look on the Las Vegas West Mission blog under the photo album that says "meadows zone conference"). I learned so much. The topic of the day was obedience, and so President Ahlander gave us a training on why we should be obedient. The most powerful training of the day probably was Sister Ahlander's when she asked us who the Savior really was to us. The most crazy thing happened; the first thought that popped into my head was "friend". I wasn't planning on sharing, but as I listened to the other Elders and Sisters responses, I felt like I needed to share it. My heart was pounding; I stood up and said that the Savior was my friend, and how he has helped me through my biggest challenges in life. The feeling in the room completely changed, and the Elder right next to me's first reaction was, "What the..." It was just amazing how sincere I felt at that moment. I really believe that we are entitled to short, powerful, spiritual statements all the time, and most definitely as we share the Gospel with people.

As far as some of those people that we've been teaching, this area is a little slow. We don't have very many investigators. The 12 year old girls that we were teaching were set for baptism, but one of them ended up moving to Boston so now we're down to one. We've been struggling in finding a time in which she is actually home so that we can teach her all the lessons before school starts, but we're still working at it. The Hispanic man we met last week lives in North Las Vegas so we referred him to the East Mission.

I'm glad that Wilkin is having a good time in marching band. That was my favorite activity in high school and it helped me have instant friends when I went into high school who were my friends all the way through graduation.

Anyways, I love you all! This mission is something that I am currently growing to love. I certainly want to feel that way when I get on the plane home in 2 years.

Tell people to write! I love reading emails; it's one of the things I look forward to every week. Also, send pictures if you can. It would be great to see how you all are doing.

Love,

Zach

Zone Conference: Meadows, Redrock, Tule Springs, 7 August 2014