Whitewashing

 

The beautiful Texas sky

皆さんヤッホ~

The time has come... I'm leaving Pecos! I'm heading up to Lubbock to train a new missionary along with an Elder I came into the field with! It's going to be wild in the big city. I don't really know what to expect, but it'll be fun!

I'm gonna miss it here a lot, it's such a great place. I think the thing I'll miss the most is the Branch President's family, they're all so cool! Especially his little daughter, shes so wild, she just cruises around like a little monkey haha. Ah man I'm gonna miss her, she's so funny.

This week was full of great experiences and miracles. The guy that walked up to us on Elder Wilie's first day accepted a date to be baptized and is now working his way towards it, we had 7 of our friends at church. Man it was just a good good week.

Good ol' Alpine

Smashing pennies

A members eagle project!

Most Texan meal I've had

Teeter Totter fun

Legooo

 This week was pretty alright, we had a lot of stuff to do with exchanges, apartment inspections, and service, but it was a good time. We got a bunch of rain again too, so that was awesome!

We saw lots of miracles, which helped to wash out the disappointments that came too. We did have a lot of great work with the members, including an awesome member lesson. You guys really are the key to the work! "There is... no substitute for a member oriented proselyting program. Tracting will not substitute for it. Golden questions will not substitute for it. A member oriented program is the key to success, and it works wherever we try it." Thomas S. Monson

じゃあね！

Cool book I saw at the store. Otters!!

Railroad where I briefly lost my Tag!

Toitle

Our first parents

バーテン長老とゾーン大会！

 

ヤッホー！

This week was most excellent! It was popping off down here in Pecos. Elder Wilie and I had so much going on with lessons, contacts, and service. Whew it was crazy! We also got asked to talk in sacrament meeting, and the youth asked me to speak at a district(stake) fireside they are doing soon!

Most importantly though, we had zone conference and... I saw Burton chourou again!!! It was a joyous reunion, now all we need is Iwaasa Chourou to come to The mighty Odessa zone ;)

We got the chance to do some family history work with a part member family this week and how my testimony of us all being a part of God's family has grown so much this week. We all have a place to belong! Just watching as this family got all excited getting back to 400 BC and sorting out their grandparents' information was so satisfying and worthwhile. I encourage you to do some family history this week!

愛していますよ！

またね！

Empty pens

Odessalation sunset

 (I'm just sending this to you guys since not much happened this week)

どうもジョーンズ長老です！

We got quite a bit of rain these last few days which was pretty nice to see. It really hasn't been super hot this year. I guess that's been a blessing for me haha.

This week we had some great experiences and I even got to go up to mighty Odessa on an exchange, so that was fun! Oh the goat farmer sold almost all his goats! What the heck? It was really quiet there this week... he still has a few, but it's pretty empty.

"Christlike attributes are gifts from God. They come as you use your agency righteously. Ask your Heavenly Father to bless you with these attributes; you cannot develop them without His help. With a desire to please God, recognize your weaknesses and be willing and anxious to improve." -PMG

またね

Look! The Tokyo skytree!!

the only forest in west texas

birbs 

かっこいい天気

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！