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