Hey Mom,
First off, sorry that my last two letters have been shorter. I am going to try to stay focused today and write a good one (and I wrote less to everyone else). So things are going great here. We have had lots of fun p-days hanging out with the district and going shopping and whatnot (I mostly tell people what they should buy ;P). We are going to take the rest of our p-day tomorrow and go to the Lavra and a museum or something which should be great. I just love the missionaries here and have fun with them. I will answer your other questions throughout the letter.
Thanks for the family update. By the way, that picture that you sent me scares me so much. Everyone has grown up and Chelsea especially seems to be growing up - that is really bad Mom! That is good to hear that Josh is having fun down there and I hope he is preparing for a mission. That is cool that Jeff is doing well too. I have certainly not had those types of experiences here. The biggest opposition we face is the alcohol. People here are really nice though. That is crazy that Megan is pregnant again. They are going to have a huge family. Awesome!
I hope that all goes well with the program there. (I was just called into Primary and we have the program this Sunday.) I am sure that you are going to be able to help things out there in the primary. As long as the kids have fun, the parents will enjoy it and I have no doubts the Spirit will be there. I always remember the way Christ talked about children in the Bible and Book of Mormon. He will be happy no matter what.
Oh man, that dinner sounds awesome. (I told him we had dinner group at our house this month and we did a soup night with potato cheese and a chicken tortilla soup.) We eat deliciously here, but still, there are some things that I certainly don't make and that is one of them...ugh. It has been freezing here too and I am wearing my winter coat today. What is up with your new job at work? What is this banking stuff? (No, you didn't tell me). You sound like you will be perfect for it.
I think that Chelsea will be just fine there. (She started swim team today.) I already mentioned that she is growing up which is scary. Those swim boys better stay away from her. By the way, Priesthood session was my favorite by far (it was the only english one I saw uninterrupted). It was jsut awesome and I learned so much from it.
About the international branch. There are two families in it, both of which work in the embassy. There is actually another that I haven't met who works for the FBI. Then there are twently college girls who are here teaching english. And then the temple couples too. So it is a lot of fun. We met with the President and his family, Powell, and had FHE and they are great. We won't do much with them, but we are there to help.
Anyway, so about our week. Honestly it was full of lots of opposition with great spiritual highs and very low lows as well. The schism between the world and the teachings of Christ is growing each day and it is honestly tough to face some of it. We are working hard though and having fun though. We are trying each day to go out and find someone new to teach. The mission is really changing and the work is hastening here which is so cool. Conference was incredible and I loved it so much. I learned a ton and I know that the words which were spoken are true. I can't wait to be able to study them out in detail.
The members are great here and I love them. The investigators too. We have one progressing investigator with whom we met on Wednesday and President and Sister Klebingat were on the lesson. It was so powerful and tonight we are doing a FHE with him at their house. I really feel that he will be baptized and it is just a matter of him receiving a testimony. He just needs to pray correctly and with true desire. He was at Bro Alexander's baptism on Saturday which was so cool. I was priviliged to be able to do the baptismal interview for him and I received such a strong spiritual confirmation that he is ready. He received the Holy Ghost yesterday and the Spirit was super powerful and I know that he and his family are going to be so blessed. Sister Tetyana was so happy.
Yesterday was cool as we had another investigator who came and loved conference. He took so much from it and I feel that he really has potential too. There are going to be a lot of baptisms here in the coming months. In the evening, we went out because we really wanted to find a new investigator. It was pouring rain and so we decided to go tracting and find a family. We went to a lot of doors and didn't really have anything positive and then we knocked on one door and a father answered. He wasn't interested at first, but we gave him a family proclamation and he said we can come back. We wanted to pray with him right there and bless him and his family, but it didn't work out. So we went to the next floor and on the last door, a young man asked who we were through the door, but then it went silent. We started to walk away and then he came out and we had a twenty minute discussion with him about family and God and how much God really loves him. He didn't seem to want to find out more, but then we told him that we wanted to pray right there to bless him and his girlfriend and he accepted. As we prayed the Spirit came so strongly and his entire countenance changed. He took a Book of Mormon and we are going to go back later to see how he is doing. Honestly, praying with them right there, on the street or in their homes and helping them to feel the Spirit is so important. President challenged all of us to do it yesterday and as a result the mission found the most investigators in one day that we have in as long as I can remember. It was great. I know that President Klebingat is called of God. He is here in this part of the Lord's vineyard to help us bring in a great harvest. By the priesthood authority which is on the earth today, he is guiding us. I know that Thomas S. Monson is the Lord's prophet on the earth today. Jesus is the Christ and the Savior of the entire world. God's work and glory is possible thanks only to our Savior and His loving Father who sent Him to perform His mission. God lives and loves each of us individually.
I love you mom. Thanks for all you do.
All my love,
Elder Jones
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