Hermana Jones is coming HOME!

She will be reporting on her mission to Mexico on Sunday, May 31, at 9:00 AM, at the Brigham City North Stake Center.
(620 North 300 East, Brigham City, Utah). 

Don't worry though, she will be writing another post on her blog this Monday!

Gilberto's Miracle

I have a MIRACLE to share with you guys. 

One of the best moments of all of my mission. 

One of our investigators, Gilberto, has been progressing so much, and this last week we taught him about the blessings of fasting. 
On Friday we were able to fast with him for the baptismal date he had accepted (May 24), and the interview he needed to pass before being baptized. Saturday we went to a baptism service so he could see how it is, and he had his interview directly after. They were in there for about 2 hours, and when our district leader came out he said that Gilberto had told him he didn't feel ready to be baptized on the 24th and that he would rather wait till the 31st. Later, Gilberto told us that when he said that the elder looked sad, so he told him he would pray on Saturday night and tell us the answer on Sunday after the meetings. When our leader told us all of this I just kept thinking "It's ok. I just know he will be baptized in May. I know that everything will work out the way Heavenly Father wants it to." 

So then comes Sunday. In Sunday School the class was about Baptism (how perfect right?), and at the end of the class the teacher asked if anyone had any comments and Gilberto said "I do" and began to tell us that Saturday night after saying his prayer he dreamed that he was on an island, and someone came up to him and submerged him in water. He then told us that he knew the Spirit had baptized him in his dream. Then he told us "I have made the decision to be baptized May 24. I know that it is what I have to do." How amazing!!!! 
It was such a special experience. As missionaries we study and teach and worry ourselves about the progression of each one of the people that we meet, but when it comes down to it the most important answer they need to receive is the one that comes from above. God's plan is perfect. 
He loves his children and is so willing to answer our prayers. 

"The object of prayer is not to change the will of God, but to secure for ourselves and for others blessings that God is already willing to grant, but that we must ask for in order to obtain." -The Guide to the Scriptures "Prayer"

PS This link doesn't relate to this particular blog, but Savannah wanted us to post it today.

http://www.mormonchannel.org/watch/series/mormon-messages/lift-the-power-of-service

Con Amor,
Hermana Jones

My Family

"..the family is central to the Creator’s plan 

for the eternal destiny of His children."                                                                                                 This last week two great things happened to me:

First, last Sunday my Mexican family 

came all the way from Atlixco 

to Puebla to say goodbye. 

Second, I was able to speak with my

American family for the last time

while her in the mission.

What a blessing. It has been so incredible to be able to leave my family for a year and a half, only to find a whole new one. 

My time as a missionary has helped me to really understand and appreciate the organization 

of the family. 

President Ezra Taft Benson, thirteenth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, taught:

"The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints views the family as the most important organization in time and all eternity. The Church teaches that everything should center in and around the family. It stresses that the preservation of family life in time and eternity takes precedence above all other interests. There can be no satisfactory substitute for the home. 
Its foundation is as ancient as the world. Its mission has been God-ordained. No nation ever rises above it's homes. This Church will never rise above it's homes. We are no better as a people than are our firesides, 
our homes... The good home is the rock foundation, the cornerstone of civilization. It must be preserved. It must be strengthened.
Some people ask me as a Church leader why we place so much emphasis 
on the home and family when there are such larger problems around us? 
The answer is, of course, that the larger problems are merely
a reflection of individual and family problems." 
(Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Ezra Taft Benson, chapter 14)

"The family [is] the most important organization in time and all eternity." 
Wow. The mission is important. Work is important. Church is important, 
but the family is the MOST important.
Not only do we know that all of lives problems can be solved from the front steps of our own homes, but we also know that the relationships we form here in our families do not have to have an end. We know that the "same sociality which exists among us here will exist among us there, only it will be coupled with eternal glory, which glory we do not now enjoy." 
(Doctrine & Covenants 130:2)
 

God loves us. That's why he has given us families.

I invite you all to think about that a little bit this week. 

What are you doing to cherish your family? 
How do you show them you love them? 

Love you family. 

Con amor, Hermana Jones

​

click here to read "The Family: A Proclamation to the World"
https://www.lds.org/topics/family-proclamation

Because of You, Mom

Mother: "The sacred title given to the woman that gives birth to or adopts children. Mothers help bring to pass God's plan as they provide mortal bodies for the spirit children of God." -GEE (The Book of Mormon, Spanish)

This week will be my last Mother's Day in the mission and I just want to give a big shout out to all the mother's in the world. 

http://motherhood.mormon.org/

https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/topics/mothers

Thank you Mom. Thank you for all the tears you've dried, "owie's" you've kissed, laughs you've inspired, hugs you've given, and love you've spread. Without you, we wouldn't be who we are. You have been with us from the beginning (literally) and we know that no matter how far away it may seem that we are, our hearts have the best way of communicating. Thank you for all of the sacrifices you have made as a mother. In a way, I think that your small and constant sacrifices have demonstrated a little bit of the love that was needed for the Atoning sacrifice of our Savior. Because of you, we know that He loves us. What a blessing it is that God gave us people like you. We love you mothers. Happy Mother's Day. 

Now, it wouldn't be right if I didn't give a special shout out to my own mother. You are theee BEST Mami! I am so grateful for who you are and for all the you have given me. Have a great Mother's Day and remember that no matter how far away Mexico might seem, I continue being your little girl.

I love you. 

Love, Hermana Jones

​

The Parable of the Sunday Chocolates

Sorry that I haven't written for awhile. The time just flies by so quickly. 

Today I am going to tell you the Parable of the Sunday chocolates. 

Last week Hermana Carrasco and I might have spent a little bit too much of our budget on a few American-only items that we found in the store while shopping 

(such as Dr. Pepper and Mrs. Fields cookies), so we didn't really have much real food to eat and it just so happens that Sunday morning we woke up to a fridge full of 

old, soggy carrots, two Dr Peppers, a box of Chamomile tea, a jug of water 

and a package of three Ferrero Rocher chocolates. 

Here I have to include a side-note about my cute little companion:

She is the type of person who pays a lot of attention to details, has a very good memory and is a master of self-control (yup, we are almost exact opposites in this aspect). This is her very first area in the mission and a few months before I came here she had bought the Ferrero Rocher chocolates to eat the day she leaves her first area - a special occasion in the life of a missionary. Yesterday as we were about to leave the house, she suddenly rushed back to the fridge and with a sheepish smile took out the chocolates and said "we are going to get hungry in church and I'm not so sure we could drink the Dr. Peppers as sneakily as we can eat these chocolates." 

So she stuck them in her bag and off we went. 

The first and second hours both passed by and the chocolates stayed safely tucked away in her bag, but as we made our way the the third and last hour of the meetings the bishop's wife rushed over to us and asked if we by chance had a candy that we could give to a less active member whose little boy was acting up, so that she could stay for the last meeting. We both looked at each other and then and the sister without saying a word. As I looked at my little compa I could almost see the typical angel/devil on the shoulder argument going on in each of us. I am pleased to say that the angel won out in the both of us and my companion quickly opened up the little pack of chocolates and handed one over to the little boy who happily quieted down and ate his sweet. 

This event in itself served to teach me various lessons about the exactness of Heavenly Fathers plans. He knows us so well. He does not forget even the smallest detail, and is always planning ways that we can be the means by which he demonstrates his love for his children. I know that we didn't save the world 

and we are probably the only ones that even noticed what was happening, 

but I also know that this seemingly insignificant situation was an opportunity that He had given us to take part in his marvelous plan. Along with Alma I can now say:

"Now ye may suppose that this is foolishness in me; but behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; 

and small means in many instances doth confound the wise.  And the Lord God doth work by means to bring about his great and eternal purposes." 

(Alma 37:6, The Book of Mormon)

I know that He wants us to  be happy and will do all in his power to make 

true happiness possible for each one of us. Another sweet part of this story is that is doesn't end with us giving the chocolate away. At the end of the third hour a sister who was seated behind us tapped my companion on the shoulder and handed her a bag of crackers and told us to enjoy them. She didn't know we hadn't eaten, 

nor that we had given away the chocolate, 

but our Father knew and showed us His love through her.

What a blessing. I hope that this week you can all recognize those simple moments to be the means through which our Father shows us His love.

"Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love." (1 John 4:7-8, The Holy Bible)

Con Amor, Hermana Jones

Five Weeks Left

Savannah was busy today and didn't get a blog written this week, 
so here are some pictures for all to enjoy.
HAVE A GREAT WEEK!

                                                 

Who We Represent

Being a missionary means that we get to know and love some people 

with very interesting lives. Today I just want to give you a few examples.

1. The other day we went to visit an investigator who is an artist. Not just any artist though. He does sculptures out of various materials like wire and plaster. It just so happens that 80% of the sculptures he had in his house were of naked women. 

You can imagine how uncomfortable us missionaries and the family we brought with us felt. Also, the last time we went to visit him, a friend of his was visiting and he told us (a little bit slurred due to the endless source of alcohol he was drinking) that he had not washed the pants and sweater he was wearing for more than a year. Ew...

2. I always thought that things like drug trafficking and other shady businesses were just rumors and only exist in the movies. Wrong. The other day we met a sweet lady who told us that for 8 years she was married to a drug lord, and that they killed her husband and then kidnapped her for three days. Crazy...

3. A few weeks ago two 45+ year old men pulled up next to us in their car, and kept insisting that they take us to buy a soda in the nearby convenience store. We told them no and kept walking. Much to our surprise this last week we ran into them again. This time walking in the street. They were both a little bit affected by alcohol and they kept insisting that we accompany them to their apartment, and that they are just two "college kids." And then, as if that wasn't bad enough, one of them came up to me and said "outside of all this religious stuff - I just want to tell you that you are beautiful and I would love to get to know you. You really can't go to the movies, 

or anything like that?" Bleh...

It's great being a missionary because it's like all of the natural barriers fall down when the people meet us, and they open up to who they are. They don't seem to notice that we are two young girls, without much real life experience. I think it's because they see not who we are, but rather who we represent. 

One of my favorite things to explain to people is why we don't use our full names. 

For a year and a half, we have the privilege to represent our families, and the Lord Jesus Christ. What a blessing. I absolutely love being a missionary. 

Like Ammon I say with him, "And this is the blessing which hath been bestowed upon [me], that [I] have been made [an] instrument in the hands of God to bring about this great work." (Alma 26:3, The Book of Mormon)

Rainy season again!

In front of our apartment.

Con Amor, Hermana Jones