Hey Kool Kats!!!

So this week was pretty tight!!! We met This guy named Diego! hes sweet!! but hes been having a hard life! we taught him the plan of salvation!!! hes soooo ready to hear more!!!! o.k. funny story. so this last week a store across the street just released what they sale to the public... So the store is called herbal remedies (Im sure I dont have to tell you what they sell) anyways sooo lately when weve been tracting peoples minds have be blown whenever we tell them the restoration or the plan of salvation!!!! haha

So I get my Ipad this week so no more having to disturb the old people in the family history center, but do you know what is even cooler than that is I can send you guys videos!!! YAAAAAAAYYYY you get to hear my charming voice of sweetness!!!! anyways sorry to keep this Email short but I want you all to Think about this quote im about to give ya "The lord presents us with the oppurtunities, and we make the choice!!!"

Oh snap sorry I forgot to tell you guys, I got to go the portland temple this last week!!! it was sooooooooooooooooooooooooooo awesome,and the spirit was soo strong!!! I have to say coming from Utah Ive seen some gorgeous temples, but I think this one might beat them all!! Its just soooo unique to me!!! anyways take care!!! I love you all!

Elder Jones

 

 

Dont hate me por favor

Hey everyone sorry for this really late email its a long story haha! mom i hope youre not dying right now! so this wednesday we are traveling up to Portland to go to the temple with our mission pres. so today we decided to make a proselyting day! anyways turns out after the temple wednesday turns into a normal day and friday is our actual pday but i guess we might be going up to silver creek falls that day so i wont be able to Email you then either. So Mom dont worry... i didnt die!!! Anyways through the power of my flippin awesome zone leader we are emailing now!!!! :)

So how are yall! Everything is good and crazy is the Salem area of Oregon!!! So this last week was flipping awesome!!! I am OYMing (open your mouth) a lot more and its really helping us out!!! I struggled with that a lot before coming on my mission!!! But so this is cool! at our last Zone meeting we decided to do a car fast! so each week we as a companionship decide to pick a day where we dont use the car at all and we just bike!!! so every wednesday is our fast! so this last wednesday we were biking and the whole time i was struggling to say anything to anyone, but Elder Soda was doing awesome at it! well as we would bike we would wave to everyone basically, we'd either get a wave or a finger back at us! buuuuuut so we were biking and I waved at this one guy! and as we were biking away I got the sudden urge to turn around a talk to him! But in my mind i was fighting it a little to be honest! but I decided the heck with it! So i told My comp to turn around we went to talk to him! And it turns out that the spirit really does place people in your path! so this guys name is omar and within 2 lessons he commited to baptism!! and he'll be baptized in about 3 weeks! AWESOME RIGHT???? It truly is crazy how powerful the spirit can guide us to help others. anyways I love you all and im sorry for this late night Email! If I woke you.... well i dunno haha sorry! anyways Stay Classy Amigos and Amigas! :)

ELDER JONES 

More picss (Shotout to The Jag gang in the back)

 (Shotout to The Jag gang in the back)

Hey how's it going?

Oh my gosh!!! PEOPLE... Im finally better haha!!! i am no longer a sick little greenie! im just a greenie!!! ok so this week, was weird but awesome!!! cause its oregon we run into crazy people everyday!!! so Tuesday!!! Bam we ran into a man who was from the West borrow baptist church! Straight up he was like buffulo bill! and all he did was make us feel like crap! so the spirit prompted me to utter the words! "Hey Elder we have a meeting in 5 minutes... Lets go now!!" haha so that was interesting!! Then the next day we ran into this old guy whos been taking our lessons!! super chill guy we call him grandpa! he rides around on his jazzy and we teach him lessons and in return he teaches us how to fix his cars and play better pool!!! hes such a stud!!! hes so funny to! he reminds me a lot of uncle dell!! (Family will know that reference) haha

Ok now time to tell you about the person we saw the next day... dun dun dun!!! so me and my companion call her mother Teresa cause he name is teresa! so me and my comp are out walking and she runs into us and was like, "I used to be mormon once" and right there im like great what negative stuff does she have to say about our church! But dont worry she just gave us insight about her knowledge!!! and man was it good! its consisted of her saying Birds are Flying crosses and Jesus is an Alien from Mars!!! hahaha i could go on and on about her for the longest time!!! My companion thought what she was saying was Satanic, but i enjoyed every minute of it!!! I just thought of it being the closest thing to star wars that ill get!!! man she was fun!!! 

Now throughout the week we ran into all sorts of people!! from hippees to crack addicts to a bum that was stabbed 18 times and survived!! Oregon is Definately the stew of America! But it was until I met a man Who is actually a convert to the church! in fact he was born into it!! and man o man!!! he has the biggest testimony ever... but for the longest time he fell away from the church! so far the only was i can describe him is by using such Characters as The Godfather and Walter White!! he got into a lot of gangs! and he rose up really far! so far that cops wouldnt pull him over!!! he was someone you would never mess with!!! but over time he got out of it! and just like that a missionary, me in general felt as though he had one of the greatest spirits and testimonies out there!!! I can Testify to you that all of us can come closer to christ and sooner or later be the best that we can be!!! If this man isnt an example i dont know who is!! Ill go each and every day throughout the week struggling wanting to be anywhere except a mission! then i see this! and i see how profound what i am doing and what many others are doing out there, and how much it touches peoples lifes! Its what truly makes it all worth it!!! Now I LOVE ALL OF YOU!!!!

Keep it classy Utah

-Elder Jones

Pictures!!!

Elder Jones and his trainer, Elder Sodeberg

Elder Jones! What a stud!!

Elder Jones with President and Sister Samuelian at the Portland Temple

Newly arrived missionaries with President and Sister Samuelian

Portland Temple

Devotional on the beach

First Day in Oregon/ Sick as a dog/ In good ol Newberg

700 Deborah Road Suite 260

Newberg Oregon 97132

so that's my mailing address in case anyone was wondering! Well I made it to Oregon safe and alive but with a terrible bug I got From the MTC! So I felt bad for my new companion cause I've been trying my best to overcome this bug! Other than that life is pretty good! I'm currently in the Royal Oaks area which is awesome and filled the the neck with old people!!!! haha to be honest I don't think I've ever smelt weed more in my life than i do now.... it's kinda funny!!! haha anyways, this last week I learned that when the lord stretches you, he stretches you hard!!! I didn't think it would be hard on a mission but its incredibly difficult! anyways we have Christ as our "Spiritual spotter" to help us out with the last rep! 

So when we arrived to Oregon our Mission President and his wife picked us up at the Airport then took us on a little adventure! our first stop was at the Portland Temple! which straight up looks like something out of a lord of the rings movie!!! its such a beautiful temple! and the fact the its marble makes it shine sooooo bright!!!! well after that we took a very long drive and after some faint car sickness stopped off at what I have to say is one of those key moments ill always look back on my life! We went to Pacific City and went to the beach where we saw the Rock! (you know the one from the goonies) anyways as we were on that beach we had a little Devotional! and in this devotional my mission president said something very profound that id like to share to you guys. he said, "look out there, how long do you think that rock has been there??? Years!!! countless waves would crash onto it everyday and yet and still didn't move... This rock is our Savior. Someone who endured countless trials and hardships but still stood strong!" now where are we in all of this I was wondering? were right there on the beach! there's fog rolling behind us! but we want to get to the top of that rock. and the only way we can get to the rock is by swimming the ocean! Once we swim to the rock countless waves will knock us over and push us back to the beach.. but if you're determined enough to swim to the Rock and get on top of it... The waves wont be able to get you anymore! and you'll be high enough to where the fog cant reach you!!! My mission is flippin hard to say the least, but a whole lot of life is that way to! its just takes an ounce of courage or faith to be willing to get hit by a few waves so that you don't have to endure the darkness of the fog.

Till next time

Elder Jones

Lightsaber pic

Heres me being a dork!!! haha this is the best pic i got for you guys right now!!!

MIRACLES ARE REAL

Sorry but I'll have to keep this Email short I have to tend to some laundry! lol

Well its my last Monday in the MTC and to be honest, I couldn't be more excited to finally get out into OREGON!!!! anyways this last week has been crazy, we taught this investigator named Ben who works at the VASA fitness in Orem! hes a total bro, i love the guy to death!!! it was a little sketchy at first cause i had no clue what to say! but the spirit filled in the gaps! We started talking and he became more and more interested in what we had to say! its crazy! we then were able to get him to read the BOM! which was LEGIT!!!! haha and now he says hes gonna start attending church with his neighbor Julie! man what a great guy! anyways that was cool haha!

So Thursday i got to get my patriarchal blessing (which I'll be email home mom) haha but anyways it was amazing! and i know half of you aren't going to believe this when i say it but those words were for me! I had never met this man in my entire life and he knew me like i was his son! and to make things even more crazy, when he laid his hands FIRMLY upon my head, i could feel his fingers and they were still, but i could PHYSICALLY feel some other hands there too! it almost frightened me but it was amazing! There were others in that room besides us! I TESTIFY OF THAT!!! I want to tell you all that god does exist, he knows you and more importantly he knows you by name!!! Well... I have to get laundry next time you hear from me ill be in Oregon! i leave Wednesday at 3 in the morning! we get to have a devo on the beach that night! it will be awesome!!!

Oh and one more thing! i ask you all to watch conference, member or not! even if its only one session, or one talk! please for yours truly!!! haha I love you all

ELDER JONESY!!!!!!

WING WING?

Haha sorry I promised the Petersons that I would open up with that!:) Well where to start! It's my first official P-Day and to be honest, before I get into the More weird adjustments I Just want to tell you that wearing regular everyday close right now feels really CRAZY!!! The MTC is an amazing and weird place all together. Never have I learned so much about the gospel!!! It truly is like trying to drink out of a fire hose, but I have learned so much! my elders name is Elder Nielson! he's an awesome guy. He knows so much about the Gospel! The sisters in our District say me and him remind them of Captain Kirk and Spock! i'm Kirk obviously!;)

Well Time to get in about the days, DAY 1 was surreal I probably seemed like a lost puppy dog wondering around trying to find his owner! The day mainly consisted of us getting shown the MTC! Not to much went down! Now DAY 2, day two was basically our first real day here. My teachers our awesome and the classes were way awesome. but i'm gonna be honest to you guys. It was hard, really really hard. I felt as though i couldnt grasp what i was trying to learn, I missed my friends, and i really missed my family! that night came i couldnt even refrain back from holding in the tears! Luckily the other Elders didnt see so they still think im a man! haha but it truly was hard, I could Physically feel my heart beating aganst my chest saying "I WANT TO GO HOME!!! I WANT MY FRIENDS I WANT MY LIFE BACK!" but i knew i should just be a man and tough it out. Luckily Sister Mays, a Lady who teaches with power and tells us how it is said something that night that really helped me! she quoted John Wayne (so dad you might reconize this) She said "Courage is being scared and terrified beyond all belief... But saddling up anyway" That really hit me! but i still didnt help the home sickness and by that night i still didnt know what to do! So I said a prayer and to this day i dont think i have ever felt the spirit more Strongly then i did in the MTC. As i said this prayer i told heavenly father, "I truly want to give myself to you and serve you and others, but how can i when i feel like this?" I began to pray for comfort and to make sure that my family and friends were all all right! and as soon as i said Amen i laid in my bed and in that darkness of the room. I PHYSICALLY, let me repeat that PHYSICALLY felt someone wrap the arm around me and tell me that everything was going to be all right! now to explain to you how real it was I turned around to look and see if one of the other elders had heard me crying... but no one was there. my beating heart began to stop and finally i felt at ease, and soon enough i fell asleep! BUT I WAS WRONG!!!! someone was there. and without a doubt it was the spirit! After that night i decided to make my personality shine outwards to others! and it just made me feel more and more happy at what i was doing!!! Stuff became second nature, I got along a lot better with my companion (like i said me and him are spock and kirk we argue a lot!) but we made it so we could both give something that our investigators needed! and it was the same thing from both of us! THE SPIRIT!!! I bare witness to you (member or even nonmember) God answers your prayers. and if you pray with full intent he will answer them!!! 

I'm gonna honest yes its still hard, but its right! It really has felt like i've been here for months already, but ive felt like ive been with the people of my district even longer!!! I LOVE THE LORD, I LOVE THE MTC AND I LOVE ALL OF YOU! I'm gonna quote good o'l Elder DeSpain and tell you! Dont pray for me but pray for theople of Salem and of the world, because i know god is answering my prayers and thats enough as is! I HAVE A FIRM BELIEF and know what i'm doing is true! AAAANNNNNDDD in case you all were wondering the food her is great, I MEAN it's not mommas home cookin but at least the first lady hasnt gotten to it yet! ;) I'd Really like to leave you guys with a quote i heard from a wonderful Elder Bednar talk "THE LORD GIVES US STRENGTH BEYOND OUR OWN

Till Next time.... LOVE

                             ELDER JONES   

 

P.S. i think i forgot to say this but ill send you guys pics once i get the hang of these very very slow mtc computers!!:)

Double P.S. if any of you decide to send me any packages (wink wink) haha just send them to the MTC using my Full name ELDER ALEXANDER DAVID JONES :)