おめでとうウーイア姉妹！！

 どうも皆さん！ 

This week was pretty swell. We got some rain again, including a couple big storms which were sweet. But other than that, not too much exciting stuff this week.

We found a couple people to teach and had some awesome lessons this week. Which has been cool. Oh, we also got to give a presentation to our branch about facebook work, and it was killer. It's always nice to see people realize what the work has become and just how effective it's been. I never feel more like a missionary then when I'm working with a projector... I have no idea why haha.

As I've studied the "teachings of Joseph smith" I've realized the importance of a testimony that this is the Kingdom of God on the Earth today. I encourage you to study the church and the Book of Mormon, to build your testimony on this! This fact is so important to know, when we have this belief, the way we act and talk changes. We become better "examples of the believers" and can help Heavenly Father in his work so much more effectively.

ウーイア姉妹本当におめでとう！！頑張ってください！ウーイア姉妹もヴラクリー兄弟も長老たちも愛していますよ！

またね！

May 10, 2021

 

ヤッホー

I figured I'd just send it to you today instead of everyone this time. 

This week was good, we were busy again. We had to go up to Odessa on tuesday for a windshield repair and got to go on an exchange with the Zone Leaders that night which was super fun. Did some old school missionary work Haha. Me and Elder Titus basically just walked around and street contacted. 

We got to help out at the food bank while we were up there on Wednesday so that was fun.

Back in Pecos we had some good experiences this week. We ran into this less active member who was baptized a couple years ago, and he mentioned dealing with the FBI and the cartels... there was also a car that kept driving around us while we were talking to him. He also talked about how he's now been going to the Israelite church... that super racist and intense one haha. Yeah it was creepy, he seemed nice and wanted to meet up more, but we'll probably just be meeting over zoom if anything.

There was a devotional by Elder Anderson this week so that was super cool. Talked about working with youth and stuff.

It also rained pretty hard one night so we sat on the porch and did facebook, that was a good time. Judy-ann is doing super well, and we've been getting to meet with her more often, as we get closer to her baptism.

Yeah it was a good week, we got a lot of interesting experiences which was fun. Hope your drive is going well

愛しています

さようなら

Pictures from the stormy night

Week 16 or something

 

"big city" sunset

どうもジョーンズ長老です！

This week was pretty busy! We had zone conference, which is always a real good time. And better yet, it rained! For about three days in a row. Man that was a sight for sore eyes; too bad it happened right after we washed our car haha.

We got to teach quite a bit this week, which was awesome. But the other day we had a pretty sweet miracle.

So we had those people that I mentioned a long time ago that were super prepared right? Well we haven't been able to contact them for over a month now, but last night we had a mission zoom call, and one Elder was describing someone that was really similar to our situation with these people and Elder Turner and I both immediately thought "we should call them" but it was really late, so we prayed to make sure and sure enough we needed to. So we did, and got no answer. But later that night he called back! The spirit really guides this work. And the work has changed a lot, with it all being online now, I invite you all to work with missionaries in your area to find people. It's never been easier for members to do so much for missionaries!

Anyway, I hope you're all well

Asta la pasta!

Bless the rains

Email to mom: Judy-Ann loves gardening and I brought up how we use mink manure and she was laughing saying we have high class manure. She's funny lady, and she dropped the bomb on us this week that she has cancer. We didn't know that, but she's definitely a lot more dedicated to being baptized than we had thought so that's really good. I hope I'm here for that, because she's so cool.

Second transfer

 

じゃあ。。。あまりニューズがありません。Since nothing really happened I figured I'd just email you rather than the whole group.

Anyway, we had transfers at the beginning of the week, so the whole week was pretty busy, but despite that, we didn't really have anything exciting. We did a lot of facebook work and made plans for what we want to get done. Also did a lot of facebook... a lot of facebook haha. It was pretty good though, we had some good conversations and hopefully will be able to meet with some.

Just now we were checking the mail because the lady just left it off and I saw the key to whole mail thing on the ground so I got to sprint and catch up to the truck to give it to her which was fun. That was about the most exciting thing of the week haha.

We had an awesome devotional about how the work is moving forward and we're seeing a miracle happen. It was super good, everything this week was kind of all about how technology pushes this work forward. It was super cool.

またね

I didn't get many pictures this week, sorry!

Isn't Texas supposed to be hot?

Sweet sunset

 This was the last week of my first transfer, which is pretty sweet. Not too much happened at the beginning of the week, but by the end it was busy! Most of the week was pretty cold and cloudy too, which was actually super nice. I'm not looking forward to over 100° weather haha.

We did some pretty wild service this week which was fun, and got some good lessons in. Mostly just spending a lot of time trying to find new people, which is always fun.

"Inasmuch as my people build a house unto me in the name of the Lord, and do not suffer any unclean thing to come into it, that it be not defiled, my glory shall rest upon it;

“Yea, and my presence shall be there, for I will come into it, and all the pure in heart that shall come into it shall see God."

This is what President Eyring said is the biggest motivator to go to the temple. This promise from the Lord. We can build our own faith, hope, and charity through temple attendance, and living worthy of that opportunity. With so much news on temples, and excitement of some opening more, I invite each of you to continue to live worthy of the blessing to enter the temple. Temples are one of the most important parts of the restoration, and can also help us individually.

さようなら！

This week was pretty good. Elder Turner was feeling a little sick at the beginning so we had to be a cautious and ended up having a couple days in the apartment just to be safe, which wasn't too bad. At the end of the week we have some cool stuff though. On Friday we butchered a goat at the farm. It was crazy, this time we actually did some of it. Then on Saturday there was a youth activity a member asked us to help with, so we got to walk around this cemetery taking pictures of the headstones as part of some indexing kind of thing or something. Of course pretty much no youth showed up, so it was just us haha. We finally get to sing and have 2nd hour of church which was fun, we got to help teach the youth and it went pretty well. But yeah it was a good week, I'm staying in Pecos for the next transfer too.

I just want a cool bird picture

Getting old

 

random bus in the desert

こんにちは皆さん！

This week was really busy, but nothing really interesting happened. We did have a lot of interaction with some of the elderly members of the branch here, and it was super sad. One was an old man who has had a lot of serious health problems and has been in a nursing home for a while. We got to reminisce with him, but eventually he just broke down.

It's hard to lose the past, and I've always enjoyed looking back at old times, but sometimes it can be a lot more bitter than it is sweet. The good news is that we have hope. Because of Christ and his Gospel, we know that this life isn't the end, and eventually all these thing will pass. And we as members have the chance to lighten someone else's life with this hope!

Baby pitbull

Email to mom about service experiences: We picked up a bunch of pecans for the district president which was... fun. The church has a couple big pecan trees next to it, so he had us gather a bunch of them in a garbage bag. We painted that house, and the usual goat farm. We also got to help in Judy's classroom which is always fun, she's a funny lady.

眠いですよ

 

conference setup/a little taste of Sapporo haha

どうも皆さん、今週あまりニューズがありません。。。

Conference was most excellent this weekend, we got to watch it in the church on a projector which was super cool. I hope you all got the chance to listen to it, and have plans to review them! Elder Corbitt's talk during priesthood session really stuck out to me and it applies to more than just priesthood holders so I recommend rereading that one!

I did have a cool encounter with a coyote after a run one morning this week. I was just standing in the doorway and the little guy came and stood in the street watching me. Good times haha.

またね！

some curry I made this week

post priesthood session sky

sweet fog we woke up to this morning