MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!

FELIZ NAVIDAD!!!!!

-Élder Jones

JonesMail...well, no.

Sorry y´alls...I´m out of time. BUT! I do want to tell you chaps about the experiences we had this last week...so...TUNE IN THIS SAME TIME NEXT WEEK TO FIND OUT! (Ooops.)

Peace, Love, Unity, Serenity!

-Élder Jones

DOMINICAN CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS! HA!

ZONE CONFERENCE!!!

JonesMail!!! Conferences and Contacting

I´ve been pondering a lot lately about creating completely unique Superheros with under-appreciated powers. For example,

THE GREEN THUMB. One bound at the heart with nature, The Green Thumb wields the power to control and manipulate blades of grass. It sounds lame at first...UNTIL HE MAKES A GIANT SUPER SIZED GRASS ARMY. Think about it.

GAS GUZZLER. There are some superheros that can shoot water or fire or webs out of their hands. Gas Guzzler shoots gasoline. BOOM BOOM BAD GUYS! Also, he can drive a car indefinetly, as HE WILL NEVER RUN OUT OF GAS. BRILLIANT.

PLASTOID. You´ve heard of airbenders and waterbenders? Well this guy is a PLASTICBENDER. ENOUGH SAID.

Well, like the subject line clearly states, we´d a conference this week. ZONE CONFERENCE, BABY!!! Élder Zivic was sort of the highlighting speaker in such, which was rather glorious (he has such a cool voice...). The focus was (logically) on being better, more effective missionaries. We´ve a goal/guide type thing called ¨The Pulse¨, which carries the end goal of to souls converted a month: one reactivation, and one baptism.

To achieve such, three items are needed (it´s dangerous to go alone):

1. Faith

2. Work

3. Obedience

The fruits of such are the results of ¨The Pulse¨ itself, as well as the Spirit, and, in all truth, miracles (which are indeed necessary as a missionary).

So, my final dedication: work like crazy, work like crazy, and work like crazy. Likewise, I´m trying to hit exact obedience so as to be able to enjoy all of the blessings that follow with such.

Glory.

We´ve done a bit of contacting this week (also mentioned in the subject line), and so far, we´ve found a few potentials. And a few freccas. But, we´re focusing on those that are interested in the GOSPEL, and not in us. :D

We shall see how these new people progress!

One of the two people that got baptized in September (Morelia, to be precise) received a calling this last Sunday! She´s progressing super well and is in truth very dedicated. WOO!

This next week is to be rather fascinating indeed! We shall drink from the fount of joy and joyness. Huzzah, my dear chaps. Huzzah indeed.

Peace, Love, Unity, Serenity!

-Élder Jones 

JonesMail! The Weird and The Wacky.

For those of you who are super crazy followers of ¨MKzing¨, no, I am not about to write about an under development internet series featuring MK clones and the supernatural. (I still want to work with that though.) Rather, this week has been a bit weird and a touch wacky.

Alright, so it´s only been weird in the sense that we´ve not been able to work a whole lot this week, which has kind of thrown us off a tad. 

Sunday: We worked.

Monday: It was P-Day. Hallelujah.

Tuesday: We left San Juan to head to the Capital for a Trainers Conference Wednesday morning.

Wednesday: We had the aforementioned conference.

Thursday: WORK!!! GLORY.

Friday: We´d a meeting which kind of chopped off half our day.

Saturday: We´d the whole International Mormon Helping Hands thing (did you guys do that too?), in which we raised awareness for a disease called Dengue. The service project was cool, but it sliced our day in half. No worries!

It´s truly heaetbreaking when people reject our message. How can we help them to understand that this is something different, something new? How can we help them to recognize us as servants of the Lord Jesus Christ? How can we help them to feel the divinity of our message?

Regardless, we press on.

Also, we found a freaking Golden Family. GLORY. If all is well, we shall teach them upon the morrow!!!!!!!!!! WEEEEEEEEEEEEEW!

That´s all I´ve enscribed for thee! Peace out.

Peace, Love, Unity, Serenity!

-Élder Jones

I Lost Count. 36! We Will Go With That! (*Mom didn't, it's 37 ;-D)

"And The Lord said, "Let there be a weird quirky post-adolescent nerd with a severe lack of melanin in his skin, and let him preach My gospel upon a small Frecca-infested Caribbean Island for two years". And there was Elder Jones. And The Lord saw that he was awkward, geeky and made random sarcastic comments at whim, and said, "It is good"."

...I was half-expecting a bolt of lightning to strike me as I wrote that. :D

I am going to be completely and whole-heartedly honest: I am freakishly exhausted. A huge part of that is due to the fact that I went hard-core in a game of Soccer for about three hours...without eating any breakfast or drinking any water. I later guzzled down three bottles of water, and nearly screamed with joy. WATER IS BEAUTIFUL. (And the game was fun too! I think I shed all fat from my body!)

I've a new comp, named Elder Peterson (I relaed such in the last General Email). He has two transfers less than I, and utilizes one of the purest forms of sarcasm I've ever seen. Apparently, this is the first time that two gringos have been in this area together for about two years. (Our Branch President keeps making jokes that they "whited-out" the area. Because we're white. [In all fairness, he's been making that joke since I first got here. :D ] Such is GREAT for our English Class!)

I don't really have any glorious stories this week about super awesome investigators; we're kind of struggling at the mo to find good investigators. Such is life, right? WE PRESS ON IN FAITH AND LOVE AND PEACE AND PROSPERITY AND TRANQUILITY AND UNITY AND HOPE AND HAPPINESS AND GLORY!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!! *Double Fist Pump/Shuffle in Place*

And now, I must flopp away. OPTIMISM RULES!

-Elder Jonesie, as they call me.

Week 35, I think? Umm...I've no flippin' idea. (*Mom knows- it's week 36 ;-D)

GREETINGS FROM THE LAND OF RICE AND BEANS! The glorious and gorgeous (and humble) Elder Jones is back to tell y'alls what's what! YEEEAH!

And now, I go to my journal so I can remember what the poop happened this last week.

The Transfers are in, and ELDER SERRATY WILL BE LEAVING MY SIDE FOREVERMORE! *Weeps bitterly*

It hurts, I know.

On the bright side, I'M GOING TO BE A STEP-FATHER AGAIN!! WOO!! His name is Elder Peterson...and he's actually the Trainee of one of the Zone Leaders. Yeah. He's going to be in the same Zone for his second comp/area. WACK! But dope, nonetheless.

I GOT SICK THIS WEEK! Tuesday eve, I twas out walking, whenst I felt upon my knecaps a lack of energy. Mine corpse though filled with life twas now reeling under the weight of a great nothingness. We retreated to our yonder abode, where I fell into a light slumber for the space of ten hours. When the following day dawned, I still lacked wholeness, so I thus aboded in my abode for the space of another day. It twas indeed a moment of great suffering and great sorrow. 

The dog downstairs went crazy when we went down to visit Marica (our neighbor), because we were clad in street clothes in the place of our normal missionary garb. She didn't recognize us dresed differently! (It should be noted that the dog is a chiwawa, so the spectacle was more hilarious than anything).

We made PIZZA! IT WAS GLORIOUS! AGAIN! (I'd make it every Sunday here if I could...but our oven doesn't work. No pizza is better than dying in a grand explosion, right? [Did that make grammatical sense?])

And now, a spiritual experience. For the past little while, I'd been trying to understand as to exactly why I didn't feel joy here in the mission, and why the work didn't feel satisfying. I could remember feeling happiness in the mission before, so what had changed? I pondered and prayed over this for a while, and the answer came to me during Church this last Sunday (Church attendance = personal revelation!). I suddenly remembered two quotes from the past, which tied together perfectly. The first was of my mother: "Attitude is Everything."

And the second was from a personal experience that occured in the MTC. When Elder Hugo Martinez of the Second Quorum Seventy visited us, we, at the end, shook his hand. When my turn came, he said to me, "The thing that will make the biggest difference will be your smile."

At that time, I thought he was talking about that it would make the biggest difference to my investigators, but this last Sunday, I realized that it applied mostly to me. Here was the key! The smile! Smile when you're angry, and your anger melts away. Smile when you're tired, and you're filled with energy. Smile when you're sad or lonely, and the feelings break apart. Your mind becomes clear, and you take a fresh, clearer perspective on the situation. Since that moment, I've felt full of joy and optimism for the work, and it has indeed been greatly more satisfying. God answers every prayer! At times, He asks us to have patience and wait for His answer, but He ALWAYS answers EVERY prayer!

Paz, Amor, Unidad, Serenidad!

-Elder Jonesie

A VERY IMPORTANT NOTE!!

Wei! Just as a jot, you chaps CAN NOW write me by email! ...I still can't respond to all because of time limitations, but I will try to hit up a few every week. But yeah, the rules changed, and now I CAN write y'all electronically! WOO!!!

-Elder Jones

Subject: This Is The Oldest I´ve Ever Been! (Also Week 35)

LEVEL UP!!! I´m now a level 19 Paladin! WOO!!!! (I´ve a photo about this that I´d love to send...but I think my card has a virus...the photos refuse to admit their existance in the computer.)
Nevertheless, I´m 19! I´m not sure what privileges this grants me...I´m sure I now have another attribute point or something. :D

 My favorite thing about having missionary friends is that as I write, a pile of their weekly letters suddenly appear in my inbox. It´s glorious.

So! Brought back by poppular demand, HERE IT IS...THE GLORIOUS AND MYSTIFYINGLY MKZING (whoops, I mean Elder Joneszing) WEEKLY LETTER!!! YEAH!

Well, starting with my oldest memory, this last P-Day, our Zone visited a big hole in the ground (we rolled like tourists to these National Park-type caves near our area). It was rather exquisite; we had several deep conversations (Tim, if you´re reading this, high five). I´d send photos, but...umm...yeah.
Skipping ahead to later on in the week, as we entered into an apartment to teach a first lesson, my eyes fell upon the most beautiful and glorious person I´d ever seen in my life: a Chinese man speaking Spanish, clad in a shirt that displayed both the American and British flags. HE WAS LIKE THE HUMAN MANEFESTATION OF THE UNITY OF THE NATIONS!!!!! So glorious...
 (You all were expecting something totally different when you started reading this.)

I´m not sure if you´ve seen the video (to my Parents: please put such on the blog where this emails are posted), but I had a wonderfully firey ending to the anniversary of my birth. We were downstairs from our house, in the house of the members who pranked me my first day in this area, when the son of this family challenged me to eat a little harmless red chili. (Okay, to be fair, he jokingly said, ¨Do you want one?¨, to which I pulled a YOLF (You Only Live Forever (my version of YOLO)) and ate one.)
 ...Yeah, my mouth was engulfed in flames. :D I was crying like a cracked aquarium, sweat poured from my gorgeous scalp, and my face was just a shade lighter than Rudolf´s Nose. The video you see is actually two minutes AFTER I ate the pepper, by which point I´d spewed the flaming midget vegetable corpse out of my mouth and into Outer Darkness. I nearly died.

And now, a spiritual note. In my mission, I´ve gained a strong testimony about the Gift of Tongues. I say this because I realized (after a while; it´s interesting that it´s taken me such a while to notice) that in our lessons, when the Spirit is present, my Spanish and my English seem to become one, and I can speak without difficulty (this is compared to outside of lessons, where on occasion (less now; this applies more to in the months before) I forget a point of grammar or mispronounce a word or fumble for a definition). Likewise, the fact that I was able to become fluent in a language in only six months attests to Divine Aid. The Lord does indeed give great assistance to His servants!

 Also, I´ve started reading ¨Jesus The Christ¨. It is a glorious work, and really helps you to better understand the Lord´s ministry, before His birth, during His life, and after His death. I´d recommend such to all!

Paz y amor!
-Elder Jones, Lord of Highly Concentrated Wackiness 

on fire!!

Wei! This is MK! I ate a chili pepper for birthday fun and nearly died! WOOOO!!

Almost 34 weeks!!!

A photo of the entire mission!!! WOO!!

We (as a Zone) visited a cave today! I want to send photos, but I think my card has a virus that is preventing the photos from showing up on the computer!

Love ya! I´ve got to bounce! (This one hour of internet thing is super dificult...but I´m trying to sustain my Preisthood Leader in such.)

Almost 33 weeks!!

Ah...vacation...yeah, here, we´re in what´s called ¨Semana Santa¨ (Holy Week). ...I´m not sure if we´re going to get any work done or not, because basically no one is home, and those who are really don´t want to listen (it´s ironic: a week about Christ, and nobody wants to hear about Him) :D ...they go to the beach, visit family...sit at home and drink beer...you know, the usual. ;D

We had seven people in church! That´s cool. Uh...stories...I can´t really remember. OOH! We accidentally made ice cream! WOO!!! I wanted to make an orange slushie, but I didn´t have any water, so I used milk instead. When we took the concoction out of the blender, we realized we´d made a type of sorbet! We did it again today, this time with strawberry drink mix instead of orange! Hmm...what new shtuff do I have to talk about...? Huh. I got nothing. :D

 Kids were an spring break, so we all were able to email back and forth to him! So awesome!!

32 And Lots of Stuff to Do! (Stupid...the names are getting worse... :D )

*Huff...puff...huff...HOOOOOO.*
I shall be completely honest: that week was completely exhausting. Partially because our P-Day was shifted to today, so as to permit us to go to the TEMPLE!!!!!! WOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! *Dances like The Doctor*
But yeah, the past few days, I´ve been completely exhausted. It´s amazing how much your body can come to rely on that one day of the week. Nevertheless, ¡VAMOS PA´LANTE! (The latter is a Dominican word consisting of ¨para¨ and ¨adelante¨. It translates basically to mean ¨we go forward¨.)
You know the best thing about extra long weeks? I remember even less than normal! I thought a quick check to my agenda would set things right, but nope...I can´t recall squat! Although, I DO recall DOING squats... ;P

All I can really say is that we´ve been working really hard this past week. At least I hope so; we come home exhausted every night! I´ve actually gotten really bad at writing in my journal because of such...I just zonk out! Really, it´s a testimony that God is giving us a bucketload of help, because there have been a few days in which I´ve thought, ¨Uh...how am I get through today?¨ But all has worked out. That´s another thing: our goal should not be just to get through today, but to completly and utterly dominate! Actually, when I´ve focused on such, the mornings have been a lot easier; I´ve gotten up without as much struggle. GLORIOUS!

Next week, I should hopefully have a cool story or something...heh heh. :D

Paz y amor!
-Elder Jones

31 With a Step-Son

Greetings Nerds of all ages!

Well, it´s official! I´m away from the land of my birth (in the mission, I mean). It´s a bit odd to walk the streets of a different city, but time will soon meld the irregularity into a smoother stone.
What´s also odd is basically never speaking English. My first two companions were primarily English speakers, so I was more adjusteed to speaking a mix of the two languages. Here, my comp speaks only spanish, and the two other Elders in our house are primarily Spanish speakers as well. This is gonna be GREAT for my language skills! (And it has been, heh heh.)
Also, as noted in the heading, Elder Serraty is actually my Step-Son (I´m his first comp away from his trainer. Elder Sullivan was my Step-Father)! It´s wack...I´M A SENIOR COMPANION!!!

Madre Vieja is indeed a glorious area, but our nighboors below us...now, they´re a diabolical sort. When I was in the car heading to the house for the first time, the other missionaries and the Branch President warned me that below us live a family of Jehovah´s Witnesses. I thought nothing of it, as members of such a church are normally very nice people. Later, however, when Elder Serraty and I went to intoduce ourselves to them, the mother of the family came out with a face of loathing, and told me, ¨I don´t want Mormons coming into my house¨. After some pressuring from Elder Serraty, she let us in, just so the new missionary (me) could intoduce himself. I told her that we just wanted to be freinds, and she responded with, ¨I don´t want to be your friend. I have my friends at church. I don´t need to be friends with the mormons¨. It was at this point that her son came out and intorduced himself. He was a bit frendiler, and started asking questions about doctrine of our church. We responded clearly to his questions, and testified several times to the truthfulness of the message. As we went to leave, we asked the mother if there was anything that we could do for her, to which she replied with a cold, ¨no¨. I couldn´t help but think with dread, ¨Oh no. This is going to be a very loooooong transfer.¨ It was at this point that the son suddenly put his arm around my shoulder, gave me a one arm hug and said, ¨I´m a returned missionary. We´re members of the church. Welcome to Madre Vieja.¨
Suddenly, the mother, the son, and Elder Serraty dissolved into histerical laughter. They then brought out their photo of the temple, as well as the Jesus Christ picture that every Momo has. ...I couldn´t stop laughing for about two days. :D

Ah! We also had an awesome experience with a visit from an Apostle of the Lord. Elder Holland of the 12 spoke to our entire mission, and I have to say, it was spectacular. (I nearly died of laughter when he told us, ¨I´m going to step out to call my bretheren of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles, and then, when I come back, I´ll let you know if we´re headed for Jackson County.¨ (I´m not sure how many of you will get that.) His words were definetly inspired, and he spoke with a power that could have only come from the Spirit. (Also, in this same conference, I got to see Elder Thibault and Elder Sullivan again, along with missionaries from my group in the MTC.)

We also had a beautiful demonstration of the Spirit. Long story short, we contacted a house, and the ladies inside were not at all in the mood to listen. They openly attacked the church, and more often than not, talked loudly over us. Suddenly, in the midst of all this chaos, I felt the Spirit whisper, ¨Ask them as to how old they think you are.¨ At the time, I just thought, ¨What?¨ (Later, Elder Serraty told me he thought I was crazy at first when I asked the question.) However, such was definetly an inspired question, because our answers (18 and 19) seemed to extinguish their aggression. It was in this moment that Elder Serraty and I testified powerfully of the church, and invited the Spirit wish a force that I´ve never felt in my mission. In the end, they were completly quiet, and actually even asked for forgiveness for offending us. As we left, they even prayed for our well-being, and that the Hand of God would be with us in our Holy labor. The entire experience has just taught me truly the power of the Holy Spirit, and his power to melt hearts of stone.

Madre Vieja overall is just a glorious place. The members are loving, my companion is glorious, and the work rolls strong.

Hurrah for Israel!

-Elder Jones

My new Zone....I think this photo fairly describes us. More or less.

There's no day like a Monday! Especially when it's a P-Day! (Those would be MTC shorts I'm wearing. They were a gift from my old Ward Mission Leader.)

Elder Serraty accompanied by his Gringo Step-Father!

30! ...Man, I'm getting OLD!

HallO! (That would be the way Freccas try to say "hello".) The time rolls like a Sumo Wrestler down a rather verticalized hill. (Have I used that analogy before?)

REGARDLESS! Big big news (again like the Sumo Wresteler)! Someone give me a drumroll...*faint drumroll is heard*...Thank you Ishmael.
I'M GETTING TRANSFERED!!!!
That's right ladies and gentlemen, Elder Jones is getting shipped off to another location within the DR! Grab your SmartPhones and look up San Cristobal, because THAT'S where I'm going to be! (Specifically, San Cristobal, the area being known as Madre Vieja [Old Mother] North.)
My companion, Elder Serraty, is actually from the DR, so I'll be spending a lot of time speaking only Spanish (which is good; I strive to reach perfection ;D ).
OH! And here's the kicker: I'll actually be the companion with the most time in the mission. Elder Serraty has a month and a half less than I (if that's even possible). SO WACKY. SO BIZZARE. SO BEAUTIFUL. ;D

Anyway, because of the aforementioned, we've spent a bit of time heading around to people I've taught/members of the ward, so as to bid farewell. It's hard, actually. I've drawn to close to this land, to this people. And now, I'm heading off for a new adventure. Though the location will change, Villa will always stay close to my heart. *Sad french violin plays in the background*
Actually, speaking of French, I've considered dedicating time to try to learn that language too. It only took me 6 months to become fluent in Spanish, so why not French? :D I dunno, we'll see what goes down.

I'd a wonderful experience in Church the other day, when during a particularly reverent moment, The Lord brought to my notice the fruits of my labors here in Villa Altagracia, many of which were seated around me in the chapel. Pure joy and deep gratitude filled my heart, for I knew that my work here had been pleasing in the sight of The Lord. (This is not me bragging, just as a note. I'm 100% aware that everything I did was 1% me and 99% God. Actually, my percentage might be a little high. THE POINT REMAINS. :D )

When we meet again, I shall be in a mystical faraway land! (DK San Cristobal.) 

Adios mis amigos!
-Elder Jones

29 and a Bit of Time! (...That was stupid...*beats head with a pineapple*)

Hola, mís bonitos amigos! Esto es chevere...solamente las personas que habla Español puede entenderme ahora! JAJA! GLORIOSO! (...Y quizás los que usan algo para traducirlo...NO IMPORTA!)

Alright, now to English for you Gringos up north! (Love you.)

This has been a week filled with experimentations! (Food, namely.) I would love to send a list of Dominican recipies up to you guys...actually, maybe I'll do that next week.
SO! What did we make? I'LL TELL YOU WHAT TELL YOU WHAAAAAATT!!!
1. Ham cooked in a Ketchup/Coke mixture (it makes a gorgeous BBQ Sauce, actually!
2. Rice, Beans, and meat. Nothing new there. WOO!
3. Empanadas! ...Super unhealthy, but SO GOOD! (*SOO GOOOOOD!!!*) I actually have a picture of that one!
4. Chicken Coleslaw Sandywiches! Just...beautiful...
5. ...Something else that I can't remember! YAY!!!
6. Oh, and Pizza on Sunday, like always! YEHAW!

We'd a pretty awesome moment while teaching an investigator named Fransisco. He has about 12 times in church (A BUCKETLOAD), and is pretty receptive to what we teach. When we were teaching him the other day, he recounted a story to us about the first time he went to church. He told us of how immediatly afterwards, he randomly started to feel sick, and actually ended up vomiting a few times. The following day, however, when he woke up, he realized that he'd completly lost the desire to drink coffee (noting that before this, he'd been a heavy coffee drinker). The wackiest part, is that we actually haden't even touched the Word of Wisdom yet! (The LDS Health Code for those of you unfamiliar with the name.) WHAT DID I JUST WITNESS?! WAS THAT AN ENSIGN MOMENT RIGHT BEFORE ME?!

Also, Dominican Independance day was last Friday. It was cool to see the celebrations, but difficult, because we couldn't really get any work done! :D

Paz y amor, mis amigos!
-Elder Jones

28 Slices of Pizza in the pan...take one out, pass it around...now everyone has sauce on their hands.

SUPA QUICK! LIKE A SUMO GOBBLING DOWN A ROLL OF SUSHI! (I miss sumo wrestling with Brady and Squid...)

I have become victim to one of the greatest additions known to man. Like a demonic wildfire, it spreads without restraints, consuming every person it touches. I speak, obviously, of P90X3. :D
 Fitness! It's becoming an obsession of mine! ...Which is actually a very god thing, as I've (shamefully) never really been in to fitness! BUT NOW I LOVE IT.

This last...ummm....yesterday was rather glorious! We had 10 investigators attend church, which (I believe) ties with the most people I've ever seen in church! This was only made possible because of a member of the church (nicknamed "Chulo" [meaning more or less, "cool, dope, or pimp"]) gave a family a ride in his truck to church. Likewise, this same family is filled with interest in our message, so we'll see what the future brings!

MORE PIZZA! PIZZA SUNDAY IS MY NEWEST TRADITION! WOO!

..I honestly can't remember anything else at this point. This week's kind of been a blur. :D

I shall have more next week! Until then, enjoy a beautiful picture of a homemade pizza!

Paz y amor!
-Elder Jones

Isn't that just the most beautiful pizza you've ever seen? And its CHEAP too! The most expensive part would have to be the cheese. (its like buying gold. Seriously.)

Rice with green pigeon peas and a sausage thing that doesn't really have a name in English! DOMINICAN, BABY!

Our Chapel! IT'S FUN SIZE!

My face when I realize it's P-Day!

27 Gifts of Valentine's Day!

And of course, by 27, I mean NONE. *Cries in a corner and eats Yogurt*
Mmm...yogurt.
So, this last Valentine's Day, I was eagerly expecting a beautiful package from my girlfriend, when I realized rather sourly that I don't have one! ;)
But seriously, I actually didn't even realize that it was Valentine's Day until someone pointed it out. Our here, it's just sort of a normal day!

Speaking of not even realizing something until later, I've progressed with my Spanish to the point where at times I'll be speaking in Spanish, and not realize until afterwards that I was speaking in the Spanish tongue. THEY'RE CALLED MIRACLES, PEOPLE! AND I ONLY HAVE SIX FREAKING MONTHS (and three days) WITH THIS LANGUAGE!!! WOOOO!!!!

I've also received another blessing, and that is the dedication to exersize! Before the mission, I was always kind of indifferent and rather unmotivated to do such. In the mission, however, I've been blessed with a stronger resolve to do such. GLORIOUS!

One thing I'm still trying to hammer away at is my Time Management skills. They suck. We left our house a bit later than we should have to head to a Zone Meeting...one thing led to another...we got there an hour late...and President and Hermana Nuckols had randomly decided to visit our Zone that day. ...Yeah. It was a bit awkward. :D

YOUR WEEKLY CHALLENGE IS HERE! I desire to hear from all of some fantastic new recepies. I'm collecting down here, and my list grows. BUT I NEED MORE. I'm like an addict to recepies. ;D 

Paz y amor! -Elder Jones

And here's a photo of a beautiful tie burning! (It's a missionary tradition for the 6th Month mark.)

And I see fire...inside the mountain...or maybe the tie..."

Celebrating my "Bump" Day with Dominican Hamburgers/Soda!...Soda doesn't like me much...

HOMEMADE PIZZA! WHO DOESN'T LOVE ME NOW?1 ;D

Subject: 1, 2, Buckle My Shoe; 3, 4, Shut The Front Door; ... 25, 26, This Song Makes Me Sick...

WEI WEI WEI THOU BEINGS OF THE WORLD BEYOND! How goeth the things of normality?

Hugs not Drugs! The problem is, as missionaries, we can't give hugs (torture for a huggy person like me), so the latter will have to do! ;D But in all seriousness, we were out contacting, when I said, "hey, we've never contacted that house over there!" So we went...and there was a Hooka machine out. It wasn't on, so we continued the contact, but after a time, I noted that the air still had a scent to it. From that point on, I devoted my attention to breathing out hard, so as to (hopefully) clear an air pocket. When we left, however, Elder Sullivan told me that he'd a large headache, and that things didn't quite make 100% sense in his head. ...Needless to say, the next time we passed by to teach, we made sure the machine wasn't anywhere around before deciding whether to teach or not.

We've a raise and a fall within the same week! IT'S A TWO FOR ONE SALE! There's a woman named Fior we've been teaching for a while who made the commitment to come to church next Sunday, and likewise promised to pray with regards to the truthfulness of our message. GLORIOUS! On the other end of the spectrum, we'd a family who was progressing insanely insanely insanely well...and we couldn't find them for the longest while. When I called to see where they were, I was told that they decided to join a different church, and they weren't going to be continuing with us. ...It...it hurt a little bit. I felt like I'd been dumped. Ouch. ...Ow...

One thing that's been fascinating to see is truly how much I've changed over the course of my mission. I look back to my first day (by means of a journal, muhahaha), and I can easily note the difference. It's wacky, really! The Lord is indeed refining me in these years of service. I'll get off the plane next year, and all the world will be like, "woah, who's this Angel?" And I'll say, "Angel is a good friend of mine. I prefer to be called...*pause for effect*...Elder Jones." And then a shockwave of awesomeness will ripple across the Fresno Airport. ;D

Quote of the week!
"There is a misconception about righteou people and wicked people with regards to life. Being rightous does not guarentee complete immunity to the difficulties of life, and nor does being wicked prevent such people from good fortune. The true difference, however, is that for the followers of God, all things work out for their benifit, be they soft or rought. Wickedness, however, only recives a growing tower of condemnation, regardless if their fortunes be good or ill."

And now, please insert you favorite credit music.
...Doo wee doo...
Paz afuera! (The literal translation of "Peace Out!")
-Elder Jones

Pictures

Me new Comp! - Elder Sullivan

A PACKAGE IN THE MAKING! Muhahahaha...

An Agenda of Awesomeness. Aka, The Bearded Book

A parting gift from Elder Thibault. *Sobs*

"Hey, Patrick. You know what's funnier than 24?" "What?" "25." *Giggles*

Okay nerds and nerdlings! It's time for your weekly dosage of awesomeness. It'll be a short and sweet one, but there you go.

NEW COMPANION! Elder Sullivan is his name, and nerdcraft is his game! (He's a level 58 Nerd. *Bows in respect*) He's a great missionary, and is the possessor of several life habits which I desire to learn. DOPE!

DELUGE! We'd two days of strait rain (not curly rain, mind you). Just the little thing Elder Sullivan needed to get adjusted to Villa Altagracia! ;D

Anyway, because of the rain, we did something I've never done before: we wore our Work Crocs to work. AND THEY WORKED.

For those of you who are wondering what Dominican food looks like, here's one of the staples: ...Well, it's the attachment. VIEW IT WITH PRIDE. 

Time to bounce! *Grabs pogo stick* Awesome.

Paz! -Elder Jones

SUPER DOMINICAN LUNCH!! Fried Plantains with Salami and RICE!

Twenty and a Fourth! ...Okay, that doesn't exactly work...umm...24. LIKE THE HOURS IN A DAY! Nailed it.

*Rolls in on a Segway*
"They see me rollin'...they laughin'...it's all because I'm White and Nerdy..."

Wei wei wei! WEI! Ah, can you feel the freshness of that Dominican Breeze? ...Neither can we. We're indoors, and I'm dying of heat. :D

Transfers come soon! Elder Thibault received a call from the President of the Mission, President Nuckols, and was asked to be the Zone Leader in a chunk of Santo Domingo known as Independencia. I was informed that it's to be my role to say here in the gorgeous hills of Villa Altagracia, and that my next companion is to be called Elder Sullivan. According to Thibault (as Elder Sullivan is actually from the same group as Thibault), my next comp is a glorious missionary, as well as a thinker. And he's Asian. From Canada. And speaks awesome Spanish. A PERFECT MIX! I'll be seeing him tomorrow when the transfers actually go down!

There's this four-year old kid who lives by the church;whenever he sees us, he screams: "AMIGO!" in a rather high voice. However, this past week, we've had two rather comical encounters with this same little kid. Earlier in the week, we were walking down the street, when a car passed by and we heard the shriek of, "AMIGO!" We looked, and saw that our amigo was in the back of the car, waving excitedly at us. We laughed a bit after that. The immediate day after, we were teaching a lesson, and went to introduce ourselves.
"Hola, I'm Elder Thibault."
"And I'm Elder Jones. Elder is a title from the Bible, which means-" "AMIGO!"
We turned, and there he was, literally right next to us! He shook our hands/fist bumped us, then told the people we were teaching, "These guys are my Brothers"
. ...We were only a bit stunned. :D

Ah, and how could I forget? You guys remember Stayci, right? I mentioned her about an eternity ago, I believe. Anyway, she got baptized. Yeah.
 ...WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
*Dances in place madly* So pancake-flipping happy...
It's a joy really unlike any other. After so much rejection and so much labor, the fruit of our efforts is a sweetness almost beyond anything I can describe. It's truly glorious. THE POWER OF PRAYER!!!

It's utterly glorious here in Villa! There are always trials, but they help us to really see the beauty of the sweetness! It's like a Dominican Hot Chocolate: in order to really taste the sugar, you have to add a pinch of salt! (It's weird, but it works. No joke.)

And now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go save some souls. LUIGI JUMP AWAY!

-Elder Jones

Us with Stayci befor her Baptism!

Stayci!

...Just...beautiful...

Twenty Three and a Day!

Dum-dum dum dum, dum-dum dum dum, dum-dum dum dum, dumdumdumdumdum dum-dum dum dum, dum-dum dum dum, dum dum dum dum DOO WEE DOOOOOOOOO, BOWOOOO...*Doctor Who Theme continues*

Wow! That was an utterly EXHAUSTING week! I'm practically sleeping as I type this! Nah, I'm just messing...I'm actually sleeping. I'm extremely skilled in the art of sleep/writing. If any of you have ever wondered why I'm so random sometimes...it's because I'm actually sleeping. Good blueberries, right?

ALRIGHT! Set aside all of that nonsense. *Feverishly pounds the backspace key to erase the horrible joke*

Random tidbits! This past Monday (that feels super weird to say in English), we journeyed down to Santo Domingo for some shopperying, then feasted upon Wendy's. I almost screamed with joy. The funny thing is, Wendy's is a bit flipped here. In the States, people are always dressed super causal whenever they venture there. Here, The people who eat there are all dressed up and fancy, as the food there is a bit more expensive, therefore, only the uppity dare to tread there. ...Okay, a slight exaggeration, but it's sort of like that.

The teaching here goes spectacularly, and we've been blessed to see the fruits of our labors (and more importantly because of the presence of the Holy Spirit). We've had several new investigators come to church, all of which look extremely promising.

AH! And we challenged a family to baptism! We've been teaching them for a while, and they've said that they can definitely feel a difference when we are there/teaching. OH! BUT THAT'S NOT THE BEST PART! The last time we passed by, they told us that they'd decided to start praying together as Husband and Wife so as to receive the answer! AND WE DIDN'T EVEN HAVE TO TELL THEM TO DO THAT! I MEAN, WE WERE GOING TO, BUT THEY JUST DID IT ANYWAY! THE POWER OF THE SPIRIT!

Every person has their mountains in life that they have to climb. I recently faced one of these moments...and succeeded. My mountain is known as: The Marianchita.
It was a excursion of about 8-9 hours, but probably could have been shorter...if we hadn't gotten lost on the way back down. Heh heh. We lost the trail (there really isn't much of a trail at all) while descending, and spent a bit of time trying to search for it again. Acting on a prompting, we decided to pray to as to receive illumination with regards to the location of the trail. After such, we all mutually agreed that the wisest course of action was to ascend to the top once again and try to re-follow the path once again. The tricky part, however, was to find a way back to the top. However, due to a Heavenly miracle, we quickly encountered the point where we had truly lost our way, followed it back to the top, then descended once again in safety. Glorious.
The photos were good too! One is of the mountain itself, while the other was our view. That's Villa Altagracia over there! I WORK THERE!

The work is tough, and it takes tough people to get it done! *Flexes Spaghetti Arms*
Paz!
- Elder Jones

So, This is the mountain we climbed...   The Marianchita

And this is what it looked like from the top. I work there!

Here's another skyview of Villa Altagracia

A glorious sideshot of Elder MK

That would be Elder Indiana Jones and the Abandoned House of Some Rich Dude.
Sergio Vargas, I believe

Hiking!

Here we are with Stayci and two members! (Stayci is the one to the left.)

FRUIT NINJA MISSIONARIES!

Rain

We get a decent bit of rain here. Just a little. That strip of brown is fast moving rain water.

Pictures

The glee is one part because Lucky Charms are my favorite cereal, and the other because it's impossible to find anything even remotely close to it here (not even the knock off stuff!) It came in a package from Aunt Julie and Nate! I LOVE MY FAMILY!!!!

Elder Thibault... AKA... Agent T

Jealous yet? ;-)

Missionaries forget how to smile??

Some good DR peeps. Apparently, one really wants you to notice his tie. :)

Service on New Year's Day. No better way to spend the day. :)

Dominican Soda! ...Note that I'm in a Spanish Speaking country...and the label is in English.

Elder Jones when exercising! I draw deeper energy with aid from the band upon my head.

This kid makes me smile every time I see the box. -MK

Twenty-Twoooo-o-ooooo!

*LET THERE BE GLORY!*

"And then a sound filled the night, in the cold winter air...and as he looked towards the earth, for the source of the sound, on that cold winter night, it was pulling him down." -Trans-Siberian Orchestra

(I love that Album. I've listened to it every day for the past week. ...Don't judge me.)

Okeydokey, so it has been a long burger-flipping time! ...I think. Frankly, I can't even really remember yesterday, so I can't say for certain. REGARDLESS! OFF TO SUMMARY!

After a long period without a single Frecca story, I began to draw curious as to why they'd all ceased. I worried deeply that perhaps I was somehow losing my utter gorgeousness...so, to discover the root of the problem, I questioned Elder Thibault (pronounced Tibo) what he thought of the matter. Almost immediatly, he responded that a large chunk of it is most likely due to the fact that I've probably adjusted to such. ...I thought about it, and realized that he's right. Also, another notation (as the Frecca experiences now are indeed less extreme than the fist few were) could be due to the fast that I've lost a lost of my Gringoness/Greenieness. EXPERIENCE NOW LINES MY SMILING EYES! *Puffs out chest and straightens tie*

...Nevertheless, I do have a Frecca story. We were teaching this family, and these two random women (neighbors, I believe) accompanied us. As we were about to start teaching, the two of them began asking questions that were just laced with the Frecca.

"Are you married?"

"No, we're missionaries."

"But do you have a girlfriend here?"

"No, we're missionaries."

"You can't have a girlfriend as a missionary?"

"No."

"But what if someone interests you while you're here? Would you come back for them and marry them?"

"..."

"What do you do if you start falling in love with someone?"

"I stop teaching them."

"What do you do if someone steals a kiss from you?"

"I stop teaching them."

"But what if God tells you that you should go back to teach them and that it's okay to fall in love with them?"

"He wouldn't do that."

Stayci (our investigator closest to baptism) progresses insanely quickly! We left the Word of Wisdom (the LDS Law of Health) for her to read (with intention to teach it next time), and she told us that she was already living it; she gave up coffee as soon as she started coming to church. ...WHY CAN'T ALL INVESTIGATORS BE AS GLORIOUS AS HER?!?! :D

Also, something I'd never before noticed, but Stayci was actually the blessing/response to a lot of prayers and one specific act of fasting. In this aformentioned fast, we prayed to find someone that would progress well, and actually come to church. That some Sunday, a brother in the Ward told us about a reference he had for us (which was Stayci). The Sunday following that, she came to church, and hasn't missed a day since. 

Oh, and I have Five Months out now. No big deal. *Dances merrily in place*

Paz y Amor!

-Elder Jones

AND A COMIC!

Week...Umm...Ah, Flip My Pancakes; I Can't Remember. 21? Sure, Why Not!

GUYS! Geez, stop crying. I know, you missed me for more than a week; I get that; I understand. There's no need to weep. *Moves to brush tears away* ...Okay, sorry, there's a computer screen in the way. Maybe next year. ;D

ALRIGHTY THEN! Well, that was a glorious flip of the pages! I've now entered into what the Momo Missionaries call the "Año Negro" (Black Year, for you Gringos out there ;P  ). It is called such because it is the year for which I will not see my family for its entirety. ...But, because I'm a Dneek (Dorky Nerdy Geek, for those of you who have not had a chance to read the "Dictionary of MKzing Words And Phrses" [totally going to make that someday]), I started a glorious revolution and changed it to "Año Blanco" (White Year), as it's a year spent entirely in the service of The Lord. TAKE THAT, PESSIMISTS! HA! *Shuffles in place*

Man, so many experiences...so many stories...so much to share...and for the life of me I can't really recall any of it. :D

Dominicans celebrate Christmas slightly different that the way we do back in the States. It's sort of like Christmas was a pad of butter that was spread generously over a delicious plot of bread (mmmm...). The herald of this hectic holiday is known as "Noche Buena" (Good Night), which is a night of feasting (sort of like Thanksgiving, just a month behind). Because of such, we missionaries had to be inside a bit earlier than normal, as drinking often accompaies this celebration...and nothing says "target" more than a couple of well dressed youth with heavy bags. Yeah. So, we chilled inside starting at 8PM for a change. We were going to celebrate the Noche Buena with our neighbors (Dominga and her family, for those of you whom I Skyped)...but they started a bit later than planned...like at 11:30PM. :D

THEN CHRISTMAS! Like excited little children, Elder Thibault and I tore open our Christmas packages, then basked in the glory of these little chunks of home. After a time, we cascaded and met up with a swarm of missionaries from our Zone, watched "Frozen" in Spanish, performed a Tie Swap, then rolled home for the main event...the Skype Calling of our families. *Crowd roars with excitement.* Indeed a rather glorious event! Through means of technological wonders, a temporary wormhole divided asunder the boundries of time and space, thus bringing my family to me, and I, to them (to clarify, we Skyped).

A week later, we came upon another likewise marvelous day, in which like a Time Lord, the year would perish but regenerate anew. However, New Year's Eve carries a bit more danger than the Noche Buena, as the celebration is a  bit more...insane. For those of you who have read FableHaven, it's a bit like the Midsummer's Eve Festival. When the last few hours of the year begin to fall, firearms are randomly discharged, cannons like dragons breathe flames, and bonfires are set ablaze at intersections throughout the land. Oh, and there's a LOT of drinking, which just adds to the insanity. So, like the antepenultimate holiday, we needed to be inside, at the latest, 8PM. We passed the time by playing cards and enjoying the remnants of our Christmas Packages, until about 10:30PM when we called it a night (mission rules). However, we set an alarm for about 11:45PM, so as to actually behold the passing of the year. ...I also discovered a hidden superpower that I'd never before known that I held, which is to enter into a state of sleep so powerful that all external disturbances cannot bring me back to conciousness. With all of the madness outside (gunshots, explosions, insanely loud music, evangelists going crazy, random people screaming/laughing), my brain finally activated this superhuman state of unconciousness...insomuch that Elder Thibault shouting my name and shining a mini-sun in my face did not so much as even cause me to stir (Elder Thibault actually thought I died or something, as he shouted my name about 15 times without any response). ...Then I randomly awoke at 11:58PM without any cause whatsoever. I guess my brain's just stubborn? :D

We'd a cool experience two days ago, when we were talking with an investigator named Stayci (who's progressed insanely, absurdly, and gloriously fast). We posed the question as to what's really motivating her, so as to be sure that such is for the right reasons (and not just because I'm maddeningly attractive  ;D    ). She told us her story (which was glorious on its own), and related how she'd a friend from Santiago who used to be a missionary, and how he'd really motivated her to learn more about the church (and was always inviting her to activites and whatnot). The part that Elder Thibault and I freaked out about was when she told us that she'd been trying to find out when the church had its services, and how she saw us once walking by the school (where she was, at that moment) and from the third floor shouted after us and asked us when the church opened. After we told her, she said, "Cool! I'll go!" 

When she related this part of the tale, Elder Thibault and I freaked out with glorious nostalgia, as we recalled that selfsame moment, but didn't ever know that the girl who called to us and the girl we were now teaching were in fact one and the same. We gloried in seeing the fruit of that long forgotten moment, and how spectacular it was to finally behold. Truly, it was a glorious blessing.

Alright, now with regards to the handwritten letters! I want all of you to know that I am indeed (and have been for a while) working on responses to that which I have recieved, but it's a slow going process. At this moment, I am still sculpting a letter to the Brasil Family (it's been almost a month), but near to its completion. I wanted to make sure that you all know that I'm indeed writing you. IT JUST TAKES SO LONG!!! :D

Here's a game to pass the time: count how many times I said "glorious" in this letter. ;D

Feliz Nuevo Año! (Happy New Year!)

-Elder Jonesy