Ol' Van Horn, Texas

 

ヤッホー！

This week was so sweet! We went on exchanges with the Ft Stockton elders and drove to this town in our area that's about 100 miles away.

The day before we went, Jeff Bezos was there and did his little space trip! We could've given old Jeff a Book of Mormon! Man that would've been sweet. Anyway we saw a lot of miracles there, and I got to bike a lot which was fun. We even ran into a guy that worked on the space project. Such a neat time.

We had some awesome spontaneous service that ended in us having a free lunch that we can go get whenever. So that was sweet. Then there was a little district party for all the branches down here, that turned out pretty fun!

Most of our people have had some things going on in their lives, so it's made it hard to meet up with them, but it's ok!

Happy Olympics by the way!!! I'm dying to watch them, but I'm trying not to get distracted by them haha, who knows, maybe I'll see some leftover merchandise when I get there ;)

"May we reflect personally on what we can do to eliminate contention from our own lives as we embrace the Olympic ideals of excellence, friendship, and respect." President Nelson

またね！

Chilling with Elder Peterson

Some sweet posters

The mural

cool abandoned building

Party time

 

Pro basketball players

どうもジョーンズ長老です！

*Ok I'm gonna shoot you guys straight... this is last week's email, so you're gonna get 2 haha. I was waiting for permission to use the picture and I forgot to send it :)*

I've pretty much been to more parties on my mission than I ever went to at home haha.

On Monday night we got invited to this sweet party at an outdoor restaurant for a pro basketball player who is close to the lady who was just baptized! It was a good time, some really... good... live music haha.

Then on Thursday, we got invited to a birthday party! It was at the district president's house and it was a blast. Lots of legal complexities (children) though. It was funny because there were lots of members there, but the food was catered, and we were looking at some cups of mysterious liquid and asked the guy what it was. He said sweet tea and non sweet tea... so we walked away haha. Those are our 3rd and 4th parties out here so far!

The people we are teaching have had a lot going on, and it's made things a little bit difficult, but we still had lots of powerful and spiritual lessons. It's so fun to watch people progress and change or even just understand the message we share. Miracles happen everyday in our lives, and prayers are always answered. Sometimes you just need to look and listen closely.

またね！

Isn't bingo gambling?

 

Good ol Texas sunset

ヤッホー皆さん！

Well that's the last week of the transfer in the books, and it looks like I'm sticking around with Elder Wilie for another one!

We got to do a lot this week, giving blessings, teaching new people, a bunch of service, it was great! We got a call from some lady who works at the senior center and she said the missionaries used to come help with bingo, so we're doing that now! My voice was pretty dead after calling out those numbers for 'em, but it was quite a pleasant time.

We got to do some family history recently, and it has led to a lot of members and nonmembers asking us to do it with them too! Family history is so important to Heavenly Father's work. The promise that "the hearts of the children shall be turned to their fathers, and the fathers' to their children" is real! God needs us to help our ancestors, so that they can one day live with him forever. I invite you all to do a little family history this week!

またね皆さん！

Driving like the mom from Ponyo

 

A little joke we made because we were taking care of the facebook page a lot

こんにちは皆さん！

This week was pretty eventful, I guess. We had a lesson about 30 minutes out of town, and then we had to drive in a super intense storm, which was pretty scary at night haha.

We had a pretty good amount of lessons this week too, but unfortunately a lot of them didn't go through. It kept us pretty busy still, so that's good. 

Happy Fourth of July by the way! This opportunity to serve in Texas has definitely given me way more of a chance to appreciate this country, and the blessings that come from living here. I wouldn't have gotten the chance if I didn't come here!

I've been thinking about pride a lot this week, it really is just the worst haha. It leads us to take offense, make mistakes, and stop progressing. So I'd invite you all to think about how you can choose to be humble, even when those around you aren't!

さようなら！

My new study sheet