9! Like The Movie! BUT BETTER! (Only by a little.)

"Bouncing in at number 9, here he comes, it's ELDER JONES!!!!"
*Crowd applauding and screaming like mad*
...What, overkill? Okay okay, I realize that introduction was kind of lame, but it's already been typed! There's no way to take it back now...(and feel free to point out the "Backspace" key; I'll take it into consideration a week from now. ;P )

*Grampy Voice* Entonces! Let's crack down on that which it yet to be told, shall we?

Well well well! We're ever popular here with the ladies (it's kind of scary)! As Elder Tibault and I were skipping merrily (slight exaggeration) to our next appointment, a large group of girls (about 17-ish I think) shouted after us, asking us in English where we were from (that's like one of the three things people here know how to say in English. The other two are "Hi, how are you my friend?", and...well, something rather impolite). We answered, and they immedietly asked if they could take a picture (note the singular) with us. Elder Thibault seemed stunned (not sure why), and before he could form a reply, my mouth had automatically formed the word "Claro" ("sure"). Suddenly, we were being swarmed by these girls who wanted to snap a stillshot with the two pasty foreigners (what's wrong with chu? Ain't you never seen a white guy before? [one of my favorite things to say to Elder Thibault whenever people gwak at us]). As they piled up around us, my missionary instincts kicked in, and I moved quickly to make sure that my companion and I were not seperated amidst this Feminine Flood. What I didn't process, however, was that in my Elderly fear, I'd grabbed on to the arm of Elder Thibault to prevent our seperation. As soon as the psynapses in my bain finally...well..."snapped" together, I slipped my arm away (we don't need to be giving people any more reasons to think we're weird ;P ).
Somehow, neither the girls nor Elder Thibault took any notice. :D
Anyway! So then they started doing individual pics with us, which was when Elder Thibault rgained his ability to speak and told them that this was the final pic. So the girl walks up, and the rest are telling us that it's her birthday. Awkwardly, Elder Thibault responds, "...Congratulations?"
We were then told to hug her, to which we rapidly replied that we could not. Then we booked it! Woo!

This last Saturday, we had the privilege of being able to go to the Temple, so as to accompany our Ward Mission Leader (Jason) and his wife (yes, actually married for realsies) for their family's Sealing (including their two little daughters). Awesome opportunity! And, as a heap of whipped cream atop this pumpkin pie, I was able to see some people from the Missionary Training Center, both teachers (Hola, Hermano Nuñez!) and other missionaries (Paz, Hermana Twiner!). And the best part is, we got to go just before the next group left! *Shuffles in place to The PianoGuys*

Haircuts! I shet my first blades of hair here upon Dominican soil. It is indeed glorious...but I rather miss my old strands. *Hair whip, realizes such isn't possible, weeps* It's better than Elder Thibault's, though. He was trying to cut his own hair (and he would have mostly succeeded), but when he asked another Elder for some help with such, a slight mistake was made, and too much was shaved off on the back. ...That, and it kind of looked like he was pulling off a serious Foehawk, due to the length of the hair atop his head. He later had to get some assistance from a Barber in putting it right. :D

I received my first package! GLORIOUS! Like mana from Heaven...except in several different flavors! The box itself came with several pictures of Jesus on it, as doing such almosy garentees that it will NOT get stolen. Does such actually work? Beats me, but it did for mine! :D

And last note, I'm struggling with one tiny little thing. It's not really a big deal, but...MY SISTER IS NOW TWELVE!!! WHAT HAPPENED?! THERE'S SOMETHING WRONG HERE! :D It's wacky how fast the time goes! I've not really processed that I've been gone more than two months!

The Lord continues to bless us! Things are spectacular here! Yeah, we have our days where we come home after a day fraught with rejection, and our feet feel as though they're about to fall off, but it is in these moments of trial that we come to truly appreciate all that our Savior did for us, all that he went through for us to be free. It's in these moments that we indeed feel closest with our Redeemer.

Paz y Amor to all y'alls! Allonz-Y!
-Elder Jones