Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Life in the Field: Because He Lives

We had some really good lessons and we have started the #graciasaqueÉlvive campaign from the church. It's really good! See the video here and share it! Who knows who it will touch? Share it and help the missionaries!!!!! It's really good! The church is going to buy Youtube for a day again, so spread the word! :)

We had divisions again this week. Elder Garcia went to Tonalá with Elder Sasser. I was with Elder Rodriguez which was sweet. It was a party! 

Sergio is progressing well and we are going to baptize him between the 1st and 2nd session of General Conference! Everyone from the ward is really excited! He has been listening to the missionaries for 9 years off and on. Im really excited! First baptism is a big catch! Everyone asked us what we did, and really we don't know. I think he was just prepared because all we did was teach the lessons, and on his own, he started to pray and read.... It was really awesome! 

Ok the sandwich that i ate today was sooo good. You eat it with a fork and a knife. Its called tortas ahogadas. Its basically a sandwich soaked in salsa! So dang good!

Today we played some soccer, and did a bunch of nothing.... overall pretty good! 

Keep praying for the missionaries and that we find people to teach! Love you all! 
This is the Robles Family. They have been members of the church for about 7 months and Dallin loves them! 
This is Angel and he is a Hipster. In Mexico, hipsters listen to Rap. HAHA! 
Torta Ahogadas.

Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Life in the Field: Rain, Rain, and More Rain

A busy and wet week in Mexico for Elder Jones. It poured rain straight for a couple of days, and even had some hail! Thankfully, a good rain jacket and umbrella helped when it came to walking and working during the storm. There is also exciting news on the investigator front! Here is an excerpt from Dallin's letter this week:

Gosh it poured rain! We were walking in rivers! It hailed a little bit too. 

One major thing I do remember is that on my  6 month mark, I burned a tie!!!! OH YEAH!!! 6 months baby! hahaha That was super fun, and well playing with fire is always great. We also found a huge cockroach, and flipped it over, put alcohol on it and burned it. hahaha. A little morbid. Gosh we are super bored at night, but oh well ;)

Our lesson in front of the temple was super good! We could just feel a difference of the spirit when we entered! We taught our lesson, and Sergio got his answer! He wants to get baptized next week, and not this week which is fine. Its his choice and I'm just stoked he is ready! Everyone in the ward is super excited because he is the husband of Hna Fragosa. 

We also got in contact with Gabby, and we can finally teach her! My old Companion and I have taught her 3 lessons, and she only needs two more. She has gone to church 13 times, all she needs is the teachings and to have an interview! I'm super stoked about that! Possibility of two baptisms in the next two weeks!!!! :))))) 
At a baptism for a new member in the Sister missionaries area.

Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Life in the Field: Six Month Mark

Dallin reporting to the MTC September 17, 2014.
Happy Six Month Mark to Elder Jones! He has enjoyed every second of his mission so far! We are thrilled that he is loving what he is doing and enjoying Mexico. Don't forget to write him via Dear Elder or E-mail (information located on the side bar!). He loves getting letters and updates from EVERYONE! Here is part of his letter this week:
Dallin 6 months into his mission in Guadalajara, Mexico! 
This week was good. We had a very interesting lesson. An investigator was very interested in the book of Revelations. He had some interesting ideas! At the end of the lesson, (which didn't go that well because he was little drunk), we asked him to say the prayer. His prayer was about 10-15 min long.... And he was yelling the prayer, and throwing his hands and walking around. He wants more lessons, but he is out of our area, so we have to send the other Elder’s to him.

we have a new investigator who is a Testigo de Jehova (Jehovah’s Witness) which is interesting. He isn't fully one because he is waiting his full year before he can be baptized, and he told us that if we can prove him wrong with the bible and teach with the bible, he will change his ways. Kind of interesting! He doesn't want to use the Book of Mormon, so we might only have him for a couple of lessons.

We had a Zone Conference with the mission president and the director of the Mexico MTC. It was really good! I learned a bunch of new things and how we can help our investigators! I’m excited to use it to help our investigators and members. After, the director of the MTC went with some missionaries to work in their areas! We almost got picked!

We went to the baptism this week. It was in the Sister’s area. I’ll be having a baptism on the 28th!!! I’m excited :) We are going to have a lesson in front of the temple on the 21st with Sergio and his family!!! :)

Sunday was good, and P-day was good. SOOOOO MUCH RAIN!!!!!!!!!

Pray for baptisms. Pray for Sergio. Pray for me and that I can stay healthy in this weather! I don’t want to roll an ankle, or catch a cold!!!!

Love you so much!!!! 

Monday, March 9, 2015

Life in the Field: Pedro's Challenge

Elder Jones & Elder Sasser
Another wonderful week in Mexico! Dallin was able to go on exchanges with Elder Sasser in Tonala and teach some people. The most exciting part of the week was having 3 investigators come to church on Sunday! That is a really big step and Dallin is hoping for some baptisms in the next couple of weeks! Today I am attaching a letter that Dallin wrote to his school friends about Pedro. Make it a goal this week to be more like Pedro and serve those around you! 
Elder Jones & Pedro

​Hey Friends,

This is my buddy, Pedro. I don't know how old he is and he smells a little funky, but hes the coolest guy around! I always give him a big hug! The van behind us is his home, and right now he is taking classes to learn how to read and write. He is a member of the church, and has grown a lot in Jesus Christ. His family has fallen away from the church, but that doesn't stop him from going to church and inviting others! He always wants to help us with sharing the Gospel with others! He always wants to share it because its something that makes him happy! True happiness comes from sharing with others and serving others. Let us all be like Pedro, and look for others who need help, and help them. Share something with others that brings happiness in your life! I know that through sharing, and being good people, we can receive blessings and feel the love of our Heavenly Father in our lives. I know that Christ lives and God loves us. I know that He loves us because he sent his son Jesus Christ to save us. Like Jesus, we can shine the love of God by serving others.

Thanks for your love and support! 

Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Life in the Field: Staying in the City

Another update from Elder Jones. Good news, he wasn’t transferred! He will be able to stay in the city and see a couple of his investigators baptized! He is super jazzed about that. On Friday, all the missionaries attended a zone meeting and Dallin received a ton of letters! Thank you for sharing and sending your love and support. He absolutely LOVES receiving these letters and packages! Here is an excerpt from his letter this week:

This week was all right. I don’t remember much before Friday… only that for a few days, we showered in cold water which was pretty bad! Hahaha! The Robles Family have a metal coil for heating water, which they showed me, and gosh that thing is sweet! Super dangerous, but man it heats water fast! Don’t worry, we didn’t use it! We have gas now in our house so we have hot water :)

Friday, we had zone meeting which went well. I got a ton on letters! My package wasn’t there.... but overall it was good :) after we went to a family’s house to eat carne asada and chorizo. It was for Elder Pavon, who is probably in his house with his family right now! Gosh that guy was great!

Satuday was a little crazy. We were going to pass by for Elder Escobar so he could have someone to watch him until Monday for his new companion, but he got super sick and went to the hospital with Elder Pavon. So we had to go all the way to the offices for Elder Escobar. We stopped everything to go to the offices which takes an hour and a half in bus. So we got there, and took him back to Libertad.... with my package :) Gosh that thing weighed a ton!!!!!!! Holy cow! But dang, I’m going to eat good :)

Saturday night, we had an activity in the chapel. It went well, but didn’t have many investigators come, or any new references from the ward. Oh well... it was super fun! We had a spiritual thought and played a game where we acted out scenes from the Bible/ Book of Mormon. It was super fun!

Saturday night, we had the option of one of us sleeping on the ground, or joining two beds together.... None of us wanted to sleep on the ground, so we made a giant bed! We did that both nights, and we called it Pangea Bed. Hahaha!


Sunday night, I had my bags ready but we never got a phone call.  Here in this mission, they call at 9:30 the night before transfers. Kinda dumb, but I wanted to be ready! So today, I unpacked a little bit!