Elder Jones is currently serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. To learn more about what a mission is, visit www.lds.org

Thursday, August 28, 2014

Pictures!

Florida coast. He said it looked cool, so he took a picture of it
Oops! Haha! He didn't think to ask to keep it, but he snapped a pic before they took it back.
Selfie!
MTC

MK in a wheelchair (ultimate frisbee champ :) ) and his companion, Elder Harsh
MKzing. 'Nuf said

Hmmmm...No words...
A drawing by one of his teachers. The one MK talked about being an Avatar and Pokemon fan.
They're trying to hold back the crazy that is MK. Ha!
Well, at least he's using his Spanish. There's that.
Elder Jones found his love of money
Elder Jones getting his grub on. Apparently they don't teach manners in the MTC ;)
Rain rain go away...Or come to California!
Santo Domingo Temple



2 week email!

Hola mis amigos y amigas! Especially you, you gorgeous thing you. (It's up to all of thou to figure out who that was directed at.)

First off, I want to apologize for not being able to get to everyone's emails. We're only allotted a small slot of time, so I have to juggle my letters with care. (Brady, I still need you to teach me how to juggle.) Rest assured, I do READ all of them. I just can't reply sometimes. (Don't hate me too much...) ;P

Week numero dos down here in the land of the ubber friendly Dominicanos! I've totally adjusted to the change (I've always been a quick learner [except when it came to listening to Madre] ;P ), and my prior knots of emotional turbulence have totally dissolved. En serio. But in all seriousness, I had some major help from the Lord. His Spirit has been scooping spoonfuls of comfort and peace onto my emotional/spiritual/mental (and ironically not physical) burns. Like a heavenly aloe vera! Of sorts. But yeah! My adjustment rolled about rather rapidamente, and I feel totally at peace. I've drawn closer to him, and in turn been able to more effectively converse with him.

Let's see...big point of this week: WE TRAVERSED INTO THE REAL WORLD! This last Tuesday, our band of brothers (and sisters) cavorted rather gallantly over to a yonder store. We skipped and swam through the Dominican streets, waving and calling out "hola" to those we passed. And then...the moment of glory...known by the ancients simply as: "The Store". Like a flood of Priesthood wielding tie wearing happy ants, we swarmed the store in duos, searching for such relics as "The Cookie of Oreo" and "The Bottle of Carbonated Elixir". And ties. Can't forget ties. Now, the prices here are about 40 times as much as they are in America, so a mere pack of cheese crackers comes up to about $97. Of course, one must also take into consideration that the exchange rate is about a buck for 44 pesos. (I tried to bring in a male deer in hopes of getting some extra cash, but they just rambled on about how it was the "wrong kind of buck" or something weird like that. Dominicans are odd...) ;D

What else, what else...oh yeah! We kinda sorta got caught up in a mini hurricane or some nonsense like that. I didn't even notice...I just thought it was raining a lot! So gringo...so so gringo...it felt really great though; nice and warm and wet (like all rain should be).

Ah! And I've been knocking everyone's socks off with my puns/accents/voices. Especially Grampy! He's been really prevalent. I think half of the Momos here think I'm totally insane...and they'd be right! :D

Love love love and love! And all that other jiggly stuff! I kinda enjoy being pressed for time to email: it forces the Improv-er in me to go into hyperdrive (a thing I prayed for, actually); I don't have time to ponder over my words; I just let them spill like gumdrops from a really crappy container!

Adios!
-Elder Jones

Thursday, August 21, 2014

Another short email from MK

Hallo! The MTC is GLORIOUS! My companion is from Britan and his name is Elder Doctor. Okay, I lied about that. He's a Utah Momo with the name of Harsh, Elder Harsh. The city is beautiful, and we can see the ocean not far away (TORTURE!!!). The people are super duper friendly! Also, I sprained my ankle while playing Ultimate Frisbee and spend a few days in a wheelchair! ELEVATOR PRIVILEGES!!! The food is absurdly delicious and the sleep is even more so!Love you! Hug everyone for me!

-Elder Jones

MK's "official" first email

    Bueno! Mi vida esta muy excellente! In all honesty, I've learned more spanish here in a week that I ever learned taking in for four years in school. SPIRITUAL POWER PUNCH!!!
    I'm still adjusting a bit; I'm surrounded by Dominicans with smiles as big as the plantains that grow here, so it's a bit of a different culture! But it's still cool!
    Well, I'm sharing a room with my companion, Elder Harsh, along with Elders' Smith and Parker (that would be the giant [6'9"!!!]). All three are Utah Momos, from somewhat the same area. Elder Parker actually is from Spanish Fork, but he doesn't remember anyone with the last name Degraw. Oh well, it's a big small town. :D
     On Saturday, I was dominating at Ultimate Frisbee, utilizing all the divine energy that flowed through my currently mortal form. As one of my teachers here would say, I had opened the First Gate. (Long story. There's eight gates of cosmic power that let him be awesome and energized [like an Avatar type of deal], but if he opens the eighth gate, he dies. He's a really entertaining teacher who loves Pokemon, Avatar, and Good Luck Charlie.) However, as my power drained, it receded too quickly from my left foot, making me unbalanced. As the crowd screamed in horror, I went down, and stepped on my foot weird. A thunderous jolt ran through my body, and my left foot suddenly refused to bear any weight. For the next few days, I rode everywhere in a wheeled-chair, so as to keep pressure off my foot. On Tuesday, Ultimate Frisbee begged me to rejoin her, so, like a gentleman, I played wheelchair Frisbee. (Great arm workout!) That night, I received a blessing from the Elders I room with, and my foot thereafter recovered thrice as quickly as it normally does. MIRACLES!!!
     My Spanish has improved like the food at...umm...actually, to be honest, the food has either gotten worse or stayed the same at every restaurant I can think of. But yeah! It's increased dramatically! The spirit has empowered me with a greater ability to comprehend language! Already, I've learned more in a single week than I ever did in my four years of Spanish classes! MIRACLES AGAIN!!!
    The people are indeed scrumdidlilishiously friendly, and the roads don't have speed limits! At least, the highways don't...
    Today was a temple day for us, so my second temple trip EVAR was in another country! Hah! Woo! I'll try to find a time/way to send pictures and whatnot but I cannot seem to remember where my cable is! If I have one! Oh well! If all else fails, I'll be sending an SD card home!
    Money is fine (although quite beautiful), and the food is DA BOMB.
    Love you all, and I shall return next week! Tell your friends I said "hi", and give someone a hug for me! The gospel is true! God lives!
Peace, Love, Unity, Serenity!

 -Elder Jones

And tell Sydney that my scarves better be SPOTLESS! ;D

Thursday, August 14, 2014

1st Day at MTC

Pictures received from President Freestone at the MTC in Santo Domingo. Who would have thought there would be someone out there that would make Elder Jones look short?!






Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Hola!

Greetings family members! Tis I, MK. Er, Elder Jones. Yeah.
I have arrived safely in the Dominican Republic, and am currently typing these words from the Dominican MTC. All is spectacular, and I'm able to stay plenty hydrated via simply breathing the air. It's glorious!
Love you guys! A Dios! (To God.)
-Elder Jones, Champion of sweatyness.

On his way!

Elder Jones left for his mission to the Dominican Republic, Santo Domingo!

Final goodbye to his room

Friends camping out on the front lawn to say their goodbyes 

Arriving at the airport long before dawn!




Airport departure committee: Larry, Braden, (Elder Jones), Sydney, Sareah, Nonnie



Sibling hug!




Elder Jones' "Tardis"