Wednesday, August 24, 2011
August 22, 2011 - Photos
1. The Philharmonia building thingy in Center Kyiv.
2. Our awesome 2 dollar seats
3. Some members from Lviv that were in Kyiv
4. The Bishop and Elder Kashiwagi. We helped the bishop again and then next pictures will show the work we did over a couple of weeks and the view from his house.
August 22, 2011
Hey there mom,
So I will try to respond to what you say and see if I figured out all that was going on, and then I will write about my week.
First off, what camera? I honestly have no idea what you are talking about. I think someone forgot to tell me something....that seems to be happening a lot these days - that is just one of the curses of being many a thousand miles away. I am very confused because your birthday is still two months away, so I can't really figure out what gift you are receiving....hmm. Well, let me know, because I am confused. What kind is it? You are right that we will be stealing it, because I think I will be taking a photography class at the U too because I don't want to take any other types of fine arts classes. I do like photography a lot. Fun fun...
It sounds like Chels had a pretty fun week, even if she isn't getting as much playing time as she may want. Hopefully she understands that if she doesn't make it to practices, then the coach can't be expected to let her play a lot. I bet there are a lot of good players there too. I bet she was kinda stressed with all that she had to do this week, but her letter was good and she sounds happy. She didn't mention her games though, like I figured she wouldn't, but that is ok. I am glad that they won. Anyway, I hope school works out well for her and she isn't too stressed.
Caitlin sounds way excited for school, her old friends, and her new job too. I bet that she will have a lot of fun down there and hopefully she didn't forget too many things when she went down. She said that she still hasn't really gotten to know her roommate which is funny, but I gave her homework to talk to her roommate and then to tell me all about her ;P So you better follow up on that because I can't follow up until next week. I think that she will have a great semester down there and have a lot of fun which is great. She is growing up which is so weird to me. I guess I will have to grow up too when I get back. She still doesn't tell me much about what she wants to do in life - like for example, she mentioned some study abroad thing and says she would love to help people, but is she actually planning to do that? Anyway, I hope that all goes well and that her new computer doesn't give her any problems.
I am glad to hear that you and Dad had a fun ride home and got to spend some time together. Now that there are less kids in the house, you and him can go on more dates and spend more time together - that is good. I will try not to take up too much of your time together when I get home ;L Dad told me about the new calling too which is really exciting. I bet he would have been pretty nervous, but that is cool that it is all working out and he is excited. Look at how the week after we talk about his beard, he gets a phone call from the stake presidency. I think it is a sign from Heavenly Father that it is going to have to go sometime! Bishop Close is great, but I am excited for the new bishopric as well. I think that it will be a great learning experience for the family and that Dad will grow a lot from it. Hopefully he will be able to go a little longer without lunch. I have gotten used to that on my mission and yesterday for example, we didn't eat until five. He may have those types of days every once and a while haha. I am really excited for him.
I am glad that you get/got to see your brother again. Did they bring the kids back to the Y or something? That is a lot of fun for them and I hope that you all had a good time together.
So that does seem like a pretty busy week for you. We had a really crazy one too. The beginning of the week we had a lot of things fall through, but we worked hard and were very busy. On Thursday we took part of our P-day and as a district went to listen to a philharmonic symphony thingy which was awesome. It was a lot of fun to be with the district and the music was incredible. It was all Russian composers too so it was their own music. Fun stuff. Well, so like I said, we worked hard, but things were just falling through. On Thursday, we had a leadership meeting with all the district leaders and zone leaders and there I received a lot of thoughts/revelation that helped me to focus even more on what we can do. Even though everything we planned seemed to be changing, the Lord was blessing us with so many little miracles. On Wednesday, as we were out in one of the villages, our lesson came late, but that gave us an hour to go around and we found an awesome woman who wants to meet sometime this week. We gave her a Book of Mormon and she is so excited. Then on Thursday, as we were at the symphony, we met an awesome Chinese man named Fei and got his number. On Friday, we were planning on inviting a member to introduce the Sister missionaries to a girl that lives with her. We planned a spiritual thought and then we were going to invite her to act, but when we got there, the girl was already sitting there, waiting to listen to us. The member invited her to come in without us even having to ask. That was such a miracle for us. We got Lena's number and gave it to the Sisters and I think she really does have potential! The miracles just kept coming as we kept working hard and by the end of the week, we had gotten so much done, even though we were super busy all week with office stuff. It was truly incredible. The Lord is leading us to people that are ready, members are excited and are inviting people to meet with us and others are just showing up and want to learn more. It is awesome and this week is going to be a great one for us. It is so incredible that the Lord is continually blessing us and it really is a testimony to us that the work is going forward. As Alma taught his son Helaman, by small and simple means, the Lord bring about the salvation of many souls (Alma 37:6-7). I know that this is the Lord's true church. I know that Jesus Christ is our Head and he is leading this work today. The Gift of the Holy Ghost is real and He does guide us daily and we seek inspiration and listen for His promptings. The Lord's work is moving forward and He is truly working through all of us to bring about His great work and glory. I know that Joseph Smith is the Prophet of the Restoration and that Thomas S. Monson is the living prophet today. God lives and His plan is real. I know that He loves all of His children and that is why I am here. I want to share that love with others and help them to receive all the blessings that the Father has to offer.
Love,
Elder Jones
So I will try to respond to what you say and see if I figured out all that was going on, and then I will write about my week.
First off, what camera? I honestly have no idea what you are talking about. I think someone forgot to tell me something....that seems to be happening a lot these days - that is just one of the curses of being many a thousand miles away. I am very confused because your birthday is still two months away, so I can't really figure out what gift you are receiving....hmm. Well, let me know, because I am confused. What kind is it? You are right that we will be stealing it, because I think I will be taking a photography class at the U too because I don't want to take any other types of fine arts classes. I do like photography a lot. Fun fun...
It sounds like Chels had a pretty fun week, even if she isn't getting as much playing time as she may want. Hopefully she understands that if she doesn't make it to practices, then the coach can't be expected to let her play a lot. I bet there are a lot of good players there too. I bet she was kinda stressed with all that she had to do this week, but her letter was good and she sounds happy. She didn't mention her games though, like I figured she wouldn't, but that is ok. I am glad that they won. Anyway, I hope school works out well for her and she isn't too stressed.
Caitlin sounds way excited for school, her old friends, and her new job too. I bet that she will have a lot of fun down there and hopefully she didn't forget too many things when she went down. She said that she still hasn't really gotten to know her roommate which is funny, but I gave her homework to talk to her roommate and then to tell me all about her ;P So you better follow up on that because I can't follow up until next week. I think that she will have a great semester down there and have a lot of fun which is great. She is growing up which is so weird to me. I guess I will have to grow up too when I get back. She still doesn't tell me much about what she wants to do in life - like for example, she mentioned some study abroad thing and says she would love to help people, but is she actually planning to do that? Anyway, I hope that all goes well and that her new computer doesn't give her any problems.
I am glad to hear that you and Dad had a fun ride home and got to spend some time together. Now that there are less kids in the house, you and him can go on more dates and spend more time together - that is good. I will try not to take up too much of your time together when I get home ;L Dad told me about the new calling too which is really exciting. I bet he would have been pretty nervous, but that is cool that it is all working out and he is excited. Look at how the week after we talk about his beard, he gets a phone call from the stake presidency. I think it is a sign from Heavenly Father that it is going to have to go sometime! Bishop Close is great, but I am excited for the new bishopric as well. I think that it will be a great learning experience for the family and that Dad will grow a lot from it. Hopefully he will be able to go a little longer without lunch. I have gotten used to that on my mission and yesterday for example, we didn't eat until five. He may have those types of days every once and a while haha. I am really excited for him.
I am glad that you get/got to see your brother again. Did they bring the kids back to the Y or something? That is a lot of fun for them and I hope that you all had a good time together.
So that does seem like a pretty busy week for you. We had a really crazy one too. The beginning of the week we had a lot of things fall through, but we worked hard and were very busy. On Thursday we took part of our P-day and as a district went to listen to a philharmonic symphony thingy which was awesome. It was a lot of fun to be with the district and the music was incredible. It was all Russian composers too so it was their own music. Fun stuff. Well, so like I said, we worked hard, but things were just falling through. On Thursday, we had a leadership meeting with all the district leaders and zone leaders and there I received a lot of thoughts/revelation that helped me to focus even more on what we can do. Even though everything we planned seemed to be changing, the Lord was blessing us with so many little miracles. On Wednesday, as we were out in one of the villages, our lesson came late, but that gave us an hour to go around and we found an awesome woman who wants to meet sometime this week. We gave her a Book of Mormon and she is so excited. Then on Thursday, as we were at the symphony, we met an awesome Chinese man named Fei and got his number. On Friday, we were planning on inviting a member to introduce the Sister missionaries to a girl that lives with her. We planned a spiritual thought and then we were going to invite her to act, but when we got there, the girl was already sitting there, waiting to listen to us. The member invited her to come in without us even having to ask. That was such a miracle for us. We got Lena's number and gave it to the Sisters and I think she really does have potential! The miracles just kept coming as we kept working hard and by the end of the week, we had gotten so much done, even though we were super busy all week with office stuff. It was truly incredible. The Lord is leading us to people that are ready, members are excited and are inviting people to meet with us and others are just showing up and want to learn more. It is awesome and this week is going to be a great one for us. It is so incredible that the Lord is continually blessing us and it really is a testimony to us that the work is going forward. As Alma taught his son Helaman, by small and simple means, the Lord bring about the salvation of many souls (Alma 37:6-7). I know that this is the Lord's true church. I know that Jesus Christ is our Head and he is leading this work today. The Gift of the Holy Ghost is real and He does guide us daily and we seek inspiration and listen for His promptings. The Lord's work is moving forward and He is truly working through all of us to bring about His great work and glory. I know that Joseph Smith is the Prophet of the Restoration and that Thomas S. Monson is the living prophet today. God lives and His plan is real. I know that He loves all of His children and that is why I am here. I want to share that love with others and help them to receive all the blessings that the Father has to offer.
Love,
Elder Jones
Monday, August 15, 2011
August 15, 2011
Hi Mom,
So I can't believe that the summer is already over. The girls are going back to school and the temperatures are still dropping for some reason...at least for us. Yesterday was a hot one, but right now it is overcast and only 68 degrees. Nothing like last August in Rivne. That is cool that you were able to go up to Bear Lake and have a good time there and then make some yummy jam. I do hope you save a little for me :) I can't believe that you let Chelsea do that much driving and especially if it was the first time in the van. (She drove the 50 miles around Bear Lake and then all the way home.) You must be a lot less scared than when I was learning, because you definitely would not let me do that. I am glad that you got to do a little more family history work too. That is pretty exciting and it is always so interesting to learn more about your ancestors. People here think it is incredible that I have some of the pioneer heritage in my blood and it certainly is a blessing to know that our ancestors did sacrifice so much for us. We need to do our part to not give up, but to give all that we have ourselves to the Lord's work. We even make that promise in the temple. Anyway, on the other end of the spectrum, we have a different kind of pioneer with Dad, and I love sharing his conversion story too. The members love it, and in turn, I love to hear what sacrifices they have made to become members too.
I hope that the girls can get all they need done and be ready to go back to school. That is so crazy to think about how fast the summer went and that they will be back in the school routine in no time. I hope that they have fun and don't take too long to transition back. Let me know how Chelsea's soccer goes too, because she probably won't tell me. We will see.
I love the Gallis and I am sure they gave wonderful talks. There truly are so many different ways to serve and the Lord will find a way for it to happen. I know that one of my life goals is to serve a full time mission with my wife some day. It would be incredible to return to Ukraine or Russia if possible. Tell dad that he is going to have to make the sacrifice some day. (He's talking about Rob having to be clean shaven if we serve a mission.) Heavenly Father will probably just make it happen by calling him to the bishopric or stake presidency or high council or something. Honestly, I think he will just have to shave it sometime and then once he gets used to that, he will be just fine with it. The problem is that he hasn't been clean shaven for 20ish years ;P
This last week was dubbed our snorkel week, the week that we are able to come up and get some air, but there ended up being a ton of crazy stuff and it was just as exhausting as the week before. We had some missionaries go to Bulgaria, another missionary come into the mission, and I had a huge project that I had to get finished. Plus we went out and did service and spent time working with the members and all sorts of other things and come Sunday night, I was just dead. This week is going to be just as exhausting, but really that is ok, because that is what the Lord asks. We are supposed to serve with all of our might, mind, heart, and strength, so being exhausted is just fine for me. Plus I am getting the best sleep of my mission so it is totally worthwhile. The ward council is still working really hard with us on bringing back the less actives and we are continuing to have success. Yesterday a little girl was baptized in the ward and it was a way neat and spiritual experience for her and her mom. The work is definitely going forward and the Lord is blessing everyone that is getting involved in it. As we all show our faith and live worthy of the blessings that are available, the Lord is opening up the windows of heaven and letting a little more light shine down on the missionaries and members here. We love the ward here so much and it is such a pleasure and privilege to work along side them and help them bring their lost brothers and sisters back. We are blessed to have a large ward and a lot of great missionaries in it too. It certainly makes the work a lot of fun to have so many people to work with.
I know that this is the Lord's work, and that all of us must make certain sacrifices in order to do all we can in this work. God is our loving Heavenly Father, and He has sent each of us here for a specific purpose; so that we can receive a body, learn to become like Him, and dedicate ourselves to helping others to receive eternal life as well. Jesus Christ is our Savior and has made it possible for all of us to return to live with our Heavenly Father. The gospel of Jesus Christ is the way and as we follow his example, we are promised eternal life, along with those that we love.
Love,
Elder Jones
p.s. Wow! The family keeps growing....how's Caitlin doing on helping you become a grandmother? What are her thoughts towards marriage and whatnot? I am pretty sure that I will beat her to it...anyway, that is not important yet ;)
So I can't believe that the summer is already over. The girls are going back to school and the temperatures are still dropping for some reason...at least for us. Yesterday was a hot one, but right now it is overcast and only 68 degrees. Nothing like last August in Rivne. That is cool that you were able to go up to Bear Lake and have a good time there and then make some yummy jam. I do hope you save a little for me :) I can't believe that you let Chelsea do that much driving and especially if it was the first time in the van. (She drove the 50 miles around Bear Lake and then all the way home.) You must be a lot less scared than when I was learning, because you definitely would not let me do that. I am glad that you got to do a little more family history work too. That is pretty exciting and it is always so interesting to learn more about your ancestors. People here think it is incredible that I have some of the pioneer heritage in my blood and it certainly is a blessing to know that our ancestors did sacrifice so much for us. We need to do our part to not give up, but to give all that we have ourselves to the Lord's work. We even make that promise in the temple. Anyway, on the other end of the spectrum, we have a different kind of pioneer with Dad, and I love sharing his conversion story too. The members love it, and in turn, I love to hear what sacrifices they have made to become members too.
I hope that the girls can get all they need done and be ready to go back to school. That is so crazy to think about how fast the summer went and that they will be back in the school routine in no time. I hope that they have fun and don't take too long to transition back. Let me know how Chelsea's soccer goes too, because she probably won't tell me. We will see.
I love the Gallis and I am sure they gave wonderful talks. There truly are so many different ways to serve and the Lord will find a way for it to happen. I know that one of my life goals is to serve a full time mission with my wife some day. It would be incredible to return to Ukraine or Russia if possible. Tell dad that he is going to have to make the sacrifice some day. (He's talking about Rob having to be clean shaven if we serve a mission.) Heavenly Father will probably just make it happen by calling him to the bishopric or stake presidency or high council or something. Honestly, I think he will just have to shave it sometime and then once he gets used to that, he will be just fine with it. The problem is that he hasn't been clean shaven for 20ish years ;P
This last week was dubbed our snorkel week, the week that we are able to come up and get some air, but there ended up being a ton of crazy stuff and it was just as exhausting as the week before. We had some missionaries go to Bulgaria, another missionary come into the mission, and I had a huge project that I had to get finished. Plus we went out and did service and spent time working with the members and all sorts of other things and come Sunday night, I was just dead. This week is going to be just as exhausting, but really that is ok, because that is what the Lord asks. We are supposed to serve with all of our might, mind, heart, and strength, so being exhausted is just fine for me. Plus I am getting the best sleep of my mission so it is totally worthwhile. The ward council is still working really hard with us on bringing back the less actives and we are continuing to have success. Yesterday a little girl was baptized in the ward and it was a way neat and spiritual experience for her and her mom. The work is definitely going forward and the Lord is blessing everyone that is getting involved in it. As we all show our faith and live worthy of the blessings that are available, the Lord is opening up the windows of heaven and letting a little more light shine down on the missionaries and members here. We love the ward here so much and it is such a pleasure and privilege to work along side them and help them bring their lost brothers and sisters back. We are blessed to have a large ward and a lot of great missionaries in it too. It certainly makes the work a lot of fun to have so many people to work with.
I know that this is the Lord's work, and that all of us must make certain sacrifices in order to do all we can in this work. God is our loving Heavenly Father, and He has sent each of us here for a specific purpose; so that we can receive a body, learn to become like Him, and dedicate ourselves to helping others to receive eternal life as well. Jesus Christ is our Savior and has made it possible for all of us to return to live with our Heavenly Father. The gospel of Jesus Christ is the way and as we follow his example, we are promised eternal life, along with those that we love.
Love,
Elder Jones
p.s. Wow! The family keeps growing....how's Caitlin doing on helping you become a grandmother? What are her thoughts towards marriage and whatnot? I am pretty sure that I will beat her to it...anyway, that is not important yet ;)
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Some bragging on Ryan
Brother Jones,
Because the email was sent to all the parents, I could not tell you how much we enjoy your son. He is cheerful, diligent, quick to serve, quick to accomplish a task, spiritually perceptive, and just a great Elder. He has not only helped me understand Microsoft and Outlook much better, he often helps me with added insights to the Gospel. We also worked with him in Ivano-Frankivsk, my husband and I having the assignment to visit that Branch monthly. Thank you for raising such a fine young man and for sharing him with this Mission.
Have a great day,
Sister Park
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Expected Return Date!
Dear Parents,
I know it is hard to believe, but in a few months, your missionary’s service here in the Ukraine Kyiv Mission will be completed.
EXPECTED RETURN DATE: 14 December 2011
Missionaries thoughts turn more to home during this time. Our goal is to help them remember that they served well and finished strong. Thank you for your letters and other efforts to help them do this. We are so grateful for the privilege of serving with such wonderful missionaries! We have been in the office long enough to get to know and love each one of them!
Sister Park
Mission Secretary
Kyiv Ukraine Mission
s. Sofiivska Borshahivka
Kyevo-Svyatoshinskiy rayon
Kyivska oblast 08131
(044) 371-4080
Monday, August 8, 2011
August 8, 2011
Hey there Mom,
I can't believe that the summer has already gone. The season is already starting to change here and my nose is a little itchy and the morning temperatures are more mild. It is pretty crazy how fast the year is going. I am super excited though with the changes and all is going well. We had a super busy transfer week and lots of crazy things happened, but I feel that all is now in control and after tomorrow, I think that things will be normal again. Elder Monson was in the group that just went home which is pretty crazy and his homecoming should be this Sunday so if you can find it, it will be somewhere in Draper. He didn't know where exactly, but if you would like to go, I am sure you can find it.
It is amazing that the girls are finishing up at Bear Lake this week and that Caitlin will be leaving for school soon. When does her semester start? And when will East High be starting. Less than a month before the school year will begin - wow! The time really is flying. Good luck in cleaning out the garage by the way. I hope the work isn't too difficult. I can't believe you had that many stoves and whatnot to clean, but that is good that you finished it up.
So I am still in the office after transfers. I found out on Tuesday, so I would not have been able to tell you until today, but I figured I was staying. Elder Kashiwagi and I will be going together for another week which is exciting. We have nine new Russian speakers and four Ukrainians which is also quite exciting and they seem to be awesome. The new missionaries are getting better and better. I can only imagine how awesome Jacob must be over there in Germany. That is awesome to hear that Luke will be taking off soon. I bet he has changed a lot and he is going to change a lot more if he lets the Lord work on him which is awesome. So exciting to hear that the work is continuing to go forward. Abby told me that she wanted to go on a mission a while ago and that is awesome to hear that she got her call as well. That is just so awesome! The Lord must be so happy with all of His children that are preparing themselves and living worthy to go serve!
This past week was super busy for us here in the offices so we didn't get a whole lot done out in the field, but we had a pretty incredible weekend. On Saturday, our bishop came to pick us up and took us to his little house where we dug up a bunch of grass and dirt to prep for a little walkway and patio that he wants to put in. It was fun, but now I am super sore from all the work. I also got a little sun for the first time all summer, but I am still super white. Last summer I was out in the sun a lot more that I have been this summer. Anyway, on Sunday, we saw tons of people and had some awesome people come to church including less actives. We also had a guy we contacted on Monday and then invited on Saturday come to sacrament meeting along with his entire family. Hopefully we will be able to go over to them some time soon and start teaching them about how their family can be an eternal family. This week we should have more time to go out and find some people and we are going to have a great one for sure. Things are really starting to turn around here which is awesome. The mission has been struggling a little this last month, but we are continuing to baptize and to bring back less active members and the work with members is going so well. They trust us and are starting to help out a little more and to try and take care of their brothers and sisters even more. Home and visiting teaching really are essential to helping the Lord's sheep stay with the fold. We as missionaries are not the people responsible for keeping them active, we are just here to help. The members are slowly recognizing that even more. It is obvious that the Church is still young here because there are certain things that the members still don't know how to do as well, but they are learning and so are we and it is awesome to see progress.
President Klebingat and his family have been wonderful and are teaching us all that we need to know to have success both here on the mission and for the rest of our lives. The whole mission is starting to recognize the direction that the Lord wants us to go in and the vision of what we will accomplish is becoming more clear. The new missionaries are so lucky that they have two years to be able to see the changes. The Parks are leaving the transfer before I do, but I probably won't be in the office by then. I am excited for them to be able to go home and see all of their grandchildren. I will definitely have to go visit them sometime in Washington. The weather here has been really mild too and I honestly think the season is starting to change already like I said. It has been hot, but it really isn't nearly as tough as last summer.
Well, I need to write to President, but I want you to know that I love you very much mom. Thanks for being so supportive and being such an awesome example for me. I am really happy that everything is going so well and that the family is so happy. This gospel is all about helping us to be happy and having the correct perspective is so key. Jesus Christ is the way and the light that we all must follow. This Church is true and is led by living apostles and prophets. They teach us the words of Christ and those words will help each and every one of us as we study and apply them in our lives. God lives and is our Father. Jesus is the Christ! We are all so blessed to be here and to have this knowledge that others do not. As the prophet Lehi taught, "how great the importance to make these things known unto the inhabitants of the earth." That is our duty as members of God's true Church.
Love,
Elder Jones
I can't believe that the summer has already gone. The season is already starting to change here and my nose is a little itchy and the morning temperatures are more mild. It is pretty crazy how fast the year is going. I am super excited though with the changes and all is going well. We had a super busy transfer week and lots of crazy things happened, but I feel that all is now in control and after tomorrow, I think that things will be normal again. Elder Monson was in the group that just went home which is pretty crazy and his homecoming should be this Sunday so if you can find it, it will be somewhere in Draper. He didn't know where exactly, but if you would like to go, I am sure you can find it.
It is amazing that the girls are finishing up at Bear Lake this week and that Caitlin will be leaving for school soon. When does her semester start? And when will East High be starting. Less than a month before the school year will begin - wow! The time really is flying. Good luck in cleaning out the garage by the way. I hope the work isn't too difficult. I can't believe you had that many stoves and whatnot to clean, but that is good that you finished it up.
So I am still in the office after transfers. I found out on Tuesday, so I would not have been able to tell you until today, but I figured I was staying. Elder Kashiwagi and I will be going together for another week which is exciting. We have nine new Russian speakers and four Ukrainians which is also quite exciting and they seem to be awesome. The new missionaries are getting better and better. I can only imagine how awesome Jacob must be over there in Germany. That is awesome to hear that Luke will be taking off soon. I bet he has changed a lot and he is going to change a lot more if he lets the Lord work on him which is awesome. So exciting to hear that the work is continuing to go forward. Abby told me that she wanted to go on a mission a while ago and that is awesome to hear that she got her call as well. That is just so awesome! The Lord must be so happy with all of His children that are preparing themselves and living worthy to go serve!
This past week was super busy for us here in the offices so we didn't get a whole lot done out in the field, but we had a pretty incredible weekend. On Saturday, our bishop came to pick us up and took us to his little house where we dug up a bunch of grass and dirt to prep for a little walkway and patio that he wants to put in. It was fun, but now I am super sore from all the work. I also got a little sun for the first time all summer, but I am still super white. Last summer I was out in the sun a lot more that I have been this summer. Anyway, on Sunday, we saw tons of people and had some awesome people come to church including less actives. We also had a guy we contacted on Monday and then invited on Saturday come to sacrament meeting along with his entire family. Hopefully we will be able to go over to them some time soon and start teaching them about how their family can be an eternal family. This week we should have more time to go out and find some people and we are going to have a great one for sure. Things are really starting to turn around here which is awesome. The mission has been struggling a little this last month, but we are continuing to baptize and to bring back less active members and the work with members is going so well. They trust us and are starting to help out a little more and to try and take care of their brothers and sisters even more. Home and visiting teaching really are essential to helping the Lord's sheep stay with the fold. We as missionaries are not the people responsible for keeping them active, we are just here to help. The members are slowly recognizing that even more. It is obvious that the Church is still young here because there are certain things that the members still don't know how to do as well, but they are learning and so are we and it is awesome to see progress.
President Klebingat and his family have been wonderful and are teaching us all that we need to know to have success both here on the mission and for the rest of our lives. The whole mission is starting to recognize the direction that the Lord wants us to go in and the vision of what we will accomplish is becoming more clear. The new missionaries are so lucky that they have two years to be able to see the changes. The Parks are leaving the transfer before I do, but I probably won't be in the office by then. I am excited for them to be able to go home and see all of their grandchildren. I will definitely have to go visit them sometime in Washington. The weather here has been really mild too and I honestly think the season is starting to change already like I said. It has been hot, but it really isn't nearly as tough as last summer.
Well, I need to write to President, but I want you to know that I love you very much mom. Thanks for being so supportive and being such an awesome example for me. I am really happy that everything is going so well and that the family is so happy. This gospel is all about helping us to be happy and having the correct perspective is so key. Jesus Christ is the way and the light that we all must follow. This Church is true and is led by living apostles and prophets. They teach us the words of Christ and those words will help each and every one of us as we study and apply them in our lives. God lives and is our Father. Jesus is the Christ! We are all so blessed to be here and to have this knowledge that others do not. As the prophet Lehi taught, "how great the importance to make these things known unto the inhabitants of the earth." That is our duty as members of God's true Church.
Love,
Elder Jones
Monday, August 1, 2011
August 1, 2011
Hi Mom,
So I was planning on having a lot more time to write you, but there are tons of missionaries here and I just lost track of time. It is transfer week again and we have about a million missionaries coming and going and the time just flew away. I can't believe that it is already August and that the summer is almost over.
I am glad to hear that you had a wonderful time on the trek. I think it is so great that you got to meet lots of new people and that things just worked out the way they needed to. The Lord's hand is always involved in these kinds of things. I am sure that Chelsea will love the trek as she thinks more and more about the experiences she had there. It is always fun to have the full experience including the crazy evening. My first evening we got into camp at 1ish in the morning and then the rains started to come which was crazy. It was the craziest night ever. It sounds like all went well for you and that it was a really great experience for everyone that went. What a blessing.
So I completely forgot to wish Caitlin a happy birthday and just took a break to do so. Ha, I thought about it of course, but then with all the craziness going on here, I just forgot in the letter. Hopefully Chels has a fun time with soccer and can figure out what exactly she wants to do. She wrote that she is ready to "kick everyone's butt at tryouts" so I think that she will be fine. Teenagers are awesome aren't they ;)
Just so you know, I already have a goal to go to the temple weekly when I get home, so I don't think that will be too difficult for me. It will depend on the schedule obviously, but I may be doing a lot of morning sessions and baptisms and all other types of things. That is one thing we can talk about for sure when I get back. It is definitely a great idea to go together if possible. It sounds like you had a great Sunday.
So about things that I have learned on my mission, I wrote a little to Dad because he has been asking about conversion so you can ask him to read that. The work is going and we are trying to do all we can to find those whom the Lord has prepared. We are continuing to have success with less active members and we are getting the members involved as well which is great. For so many members, it just comes down to faith. Faith is the first principle of the gospel and something that we always talk about, but that we hardly understand. We have been sharing that with members and with less actives as we go to them and help them to come closer to Christ and to do missionary work. Everyone has excuses for why they don't keep a commandment or why they can't go to the temple or do missionary work or whatever it is, but the real answer every time is that they just don't have the faith to work a miracle and make it happen. We know, as the prophet Mormon taught so clearly, that MIRACLES EXIST TODAY, just as they have in all times. The real question for us is do we have the faith to trust in the Lord and make the necessary sacrifices to get the blessings that God wants to give us. We have been sharing a story that is in the 14th chapter of Matthew about when Jesus walked on the water to the Apostles. I will share part of it here:
Elder Jones
So I was planning on having a lot more time to write you, but there are tons of missionaries here and I just lost track of time. It is transfer week again and we have about a million missionaries coming and going and the time just flew away. I can't believe that it is already August and that the summer is almost over.
I am glad to hear that you had a wonderful time on the trek. I think it is so great that you got to meet lots of new people and that things just worked out the way they needed to. The Lord's hand is always involved in these kinds of things. I am sure that Chelsea will love the trek as she thinks more and more about the experiences she had there. It is always fun to have the full experience including the crazy evening. My first evening we got into camp at 1ish in the morning and then the rains started to come which was crazy. It was the craziest night ever. It sounds like all went well for you and that it was a really great experience for everyone that went. What a blessing.
So I completely forgot to wish Caitlin a happy birthday and just took a break to do so. Ha, I thought about it of course, but then with all the craziness going on here, I just forgot in the letter. Hopefully Chels has a fun time with soccer and can figure out what exactly she wants to do. She wrote that she is ready to "kick everyone's butt at tryouts" so I think that she will be fine. Teenagers are awesome aren't they ;)
Just so you know, I already have a goal to go to the temple weekly when I get home, so I don't think that will be too difficult for me. It will depend on the schedule obviously, but I may be doing a lot of morning sessions and baptisms and all other types of things. That is one thing we can talk about for sure when I get back. It is definitely a great idea to go together if possible. It sounds like you had a great Sunday.
So about things that I have learned on my mission, I wrote a little to Dad because he has been asking about conversion so you can ask him to read that. The work is going and we are trying to do all we can to find those whom the Lord has prepared. We are continuing to have success with less active members and we are getting the members involved as well which is great. For so many members, it just comes down to faith. Faith is the first principle of the gospel and something that we always talk about, but that we hardly understand. We have been sharing that with members and with less actives as we go to them and help them to come closer to Christ and to do missionary work. Everyone has excuses for why they don't keep a commandment or why they can't go to the temple or do missionary work or whatever it is, but the real answer every time is that they just don't have the faith to work a miracle and make it happen. We know, as the prophet Mormon taught so clearly, that MIRACLES EXIST TODAY, just as they have in all times. The real question for us is do we have the faith to trust in the Lord and make the necessary sacrifices to get the blessings that God wants to give us. We have been sharing a story that is in the 14th chapter of Matthew about when Jesus walked on the water to the Apostles. I will share part of it here:
22 And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship, and to go before him unto the other side, while he sent the multitudes away.
23 And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone.
26 And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.
29 And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.
30 But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.
31 And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?
Instead of focusing on the "lack of faith" that Peter showed, I like to think about the faith of the other apostles that were with him. Just as those disciples listened to Christ and went into the ship, we as members have followed Christ and been baptized. Many of us are great members who go to church weekly, fulfill our callings and do what the prophets say. But, like those apostles that just sat in the boat, we too sit in the boat. We are comfortable where we are and are willing to sit around and do the things we are comfortable doing, especially as the waves are getting bigger and bigger around us in this world. We lack the faith to even step out of the boat and try to do what the Lord truly expects of us. For some, it may be that they don't want to make time to go to the temple every week. Others just don't want to share the gospel. The point is, that we can't grow if we just sit around in our comfort. The Lord wants us to try to do those things that are difficult, and as we do, our faith grows, even until we perform miracles.
I know that this is the true Church of Jesus Christ. He lives and leads the Church today. He is our Savior and Redeemer and as we put our faith in Him and do the things that He asks of us, then we become the people that we need to be in order to live in the celestial kingdom.
Love,
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