5.31.11 email

Hello all! How was the holiday!?

Everything is good here in Michigan.

So.... I WAS transfered!!! I am now in a city called Flint. The area was Flint North and Flint South, but they combined it, so it's huge!!! So here's my new addy... in case any of ya wanna write meh...

{email Taffi if you'd like the new address!! :) }

My new comp's name is Elder Mortensen. He's from Arizona and he's been out for almost 16 months. He's really cool, so I'm lookin' forward to serving with him.

This last week has been crazy!!! Crazy as in busy and all the other ways it could be taken! Let's start with last week... exchanges with Brighton, tornado warnings in all of my area, I know of at least 3 that touched down, but it's all good. Then on Monday, I got knocked out playing basketball, long story hahaha but you can get the details from Mom's blog that she has set up for me. I'll have her send the link when she gets this... right Mom? LOL {FYI, this is all the info I have on that story! I'd love to get more details if anyone has any! LOL} and then today I got transferred! So yeah, fun week!! Oh and on top of all that, guess how many lessons we taught? No, no, no, guess... hahha 31 is the total on that one. And the weird part is, is that we could have gotten at least 5 or 6 more lessons than what we did. I hope this area will be just as fruitful! :)

Well I gotta peace out, the library is busy and we are limited to a half hour today! Peace out, homies!

Elder Jones

{and in response to some questions I'd emailed him about the weather...}

Everything with the weather is fine. We hid out in a member's basement while the storm went over us... it only uprooted like 15 trees that I saw and took out a lot of fences and lawn stuff. Fun! Ha.

I sent out a letter to you and to Brett. I'm putting my trust into Elder Wenzel to send a package to you guys.

I can't wait for the debit card. I've been living off the reserve cash fund, haha... as soon as I get the card I'll be pullin' out more to make another reserve fund!

Next week I'll print off some pictures for you guys!

Here are a few pics, I'll get more next week, k? This is me in Hell and some pics of a random barn somewhere in the sticks. Gotta go! Bye!

5.26.11 letter

Family!

Hey there! How are y'all? School? Work?

Everything is going good here. Last week we had two full days of meetings, so we only taught 23 lessons. This week should be much, much better.

It's crazy to believe that I'm over 3 months out. It just blows my mind!

Our investigator list is HUGE! We're teaching 17 people, so they keep us pretty busy. Over half are right on the edge of baptism. So this area is gonna explode in the next 2-4 months!

Riding bikes is no fun, but I know it is securing blessings for you guys and my family to come, so I keep a smile on my face! :D

I'm sorry I haven't gotten you guys pictures in a while. I'll be sending a bunch in the package I'm sending here in the next week or so.

So, I finally went to Hell! It's pretty small, but funny. There's not much to do in Hell, unless you like to shop overpriced! Ha ha. But that was pretty fun!

Over the last few weeks, we've been doing a lot of service!! I have 3 popped blisters that make it fun to shake people's hand with!

Well, I know this is a short one, but I gotta get goin'! Oh, and happy graduation Brett! I'll get you something sent out here in a bit!

Love you guys!

Peace out ~

Elder Jones

5.26.11 email

Hello! Wassup! How's everyone doin'?

Everything is going good here in Howell. I've been way busy! So I thought I'd share a story right off the bat.

Some of you might find this dumb but it still makes me laugh. So as some of you know, we as missionaries get a certain amount of miles each month in the car; well along with miles to drive, we have what we call write-offs. If we have certain events we have to go to, like conferences or anything, we get them written off. Well, last week I added up miles, and found our average amount of miles out for the month. It came out to me something like 17.83 miles a day, or somewhere along those lines. Well, we usualy use about 40 on a average day, so we biked every day this last week to conserve miles for a "just in case" instance. Well, after the last week of biking, I wanted to see how many miles we had for the rest of the month with all the saving we did. Well, I started doing the math, and realized that last time I figured everything out and didn't add in our write-offs... so we now have an average of 48.something miles per day! I was mad and happy at the same time! Haha.

Anyway, everything is going good here. We're about halfway through the week and we're already at 16 lessons - and it's lining up to be busy! So I'm way excited! We get transfer calls this Saturday night to find out if we're either staying or leaving, so I can't wait for that also.

I looked into my journal last night and realized that tonight was going to be my 100th entry into my journal - so that means that today is my 100th day of being on a mission! Crazy! I can't believe it's been that long! Hahaha.

Well... I think that's about all... have a good one!!

Peace out ~

Elder Jones

5.23.11

Elder Jones' p-day is moved to Thursday this week, so he can attend the temple today... so no email today! :(

5.16.11 letter

Mom! and family :)

How y'all doin'? :) :D

Everything is going swell here! We've been super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super busy! If you hadn't noticed, that was 29 'supers' because that is how many lessons we've taught this last week! So it's been stinkin' busy! We technically taught 30 lessons, but we're giving it to the Chelsea Elders because we didn't need it! LOL :D

Anyway, the weather was looking up this last week, but it's supposed to get cold the rest of the week. It got hot a few days last week. The humidity sucked, but hey, it's Michigan! Hahaha.

It's crazy to think I'm now 3 months out. Today is my 'click' day, it's the day you enter the MTC & that's how you remember how long you're out for.

I'm not too excited for this week. Elder Wenzel has training meetings all day Tuesday and most of Wednesday. So I'll be out of my area all day Tuesday, and, like I said, most of Wednesday. So it'll be interesting to see how we hit on our lesson goals.

So these CDs you sent are interesting. The music is not quite what I thought they were going to be... but I still love 'em. Thanks :)

So investigators... I took a count and we have 14 and counting! So that's cool. It seems like everyone is coming along good. Hopefully we'll have at least one on date this week! :)

So, interesting story for this week. :)

We were at district meeting and we were practicing with each other, like a role play. Well we were 'teaching' one of our investigators & Elders Anderson and Charles were together. Elder Anderson was an investigator with a smoking habit & Elder Charles was teaching him. Well, they were talking about how to get him to quit smoking & they figured out a solution. And Elder Charles, not thinking, says, "You're going to have this thing licked in the butt in a week!" We all started laughing & he got all red. So yeah, that was fun. Hahahaha.

Well, I think that's about all for this week! I love you guys and miss you all. You're in my prayers every night!

Peace out -

~ Elder Nye-Nye Jones

5.16.11 email

Haro!

Wassup! Everything is going good here in Michiganland! Just had a super busy week! Taught a lot!

This week is gonna be super slow! Got 2 full days of meetings so we'll see how it turns out!

Oh and just as an F.Y.I. - next week I wont be e-mailing till Thursday, I'm hitting the temple up so my p-day is being switched to Thursday instead of Monday!

Crazy to think that as of today I'm now 3 months out! The time has like pretty much just flown by!!

Not too much of anything exciting happened.... I'm trying to think.... hahaha nope! Nothing's coming to mind!

Oh, transfers are on the 31st of this month so... if you're gonna be sending any mail my way... send it before the 23rd or else just send it to the mission office and they'll just forward it to meh.

Think that's all!

Peace out ~ Elder Jones

Funny mail for Elder Jones

So, a few weeks ago Elder Jones got a piece of mail here (he still gets a bunch of junk mail here, of course!) that made me laugh.

It was from the US Navy Reserve and the front said: "Sometimes, success is all about being in the right place at the right time."

Some quotes from the inside text:

"Giving back - who knew it could be so worthwhile."

"Do something extraordinary - give your life new meaning."

"Get ahead - by giving back."

"Having a mission in life... it really can make all the difference in the world."

Of course, there was plenty more, and it was all about touting all the benefits to military service - but when you take away the military-specific things, it really applies to LDS service, specifically LDS missionaries, as well.

Truly, we really do get ahead in life by dedicating ourselves to the service of others; the Lord blesses those who serve Him!

I just thought it was really funny that this particular piece of mail came a few weeks into Elder Jones' first assignment.

~ Taffi

5.9.11 email

Hey there. All is well in Howell. Been super busy this week! We taught a total of 26 lessons this week! It was crazy insane! Yes, I did just put those two together! hahaha.

Not much exciting happened I think.... got to call home yesterday, which was nice :) and I think that was about it, haha.

So, I guess peace out!

PS - I'm not sending a letter this week because I don't have anything new to say... :) but it'll be a full one next week :)

Elder Jones :D

5.8.11 - Mother's Day phone call!

We were able to talk with Elder Jones for about an hour this afternoon. It was wonderful. :)

No major news - he's doing well, sounds happy, stays busy, is getting used to the humidity, etc, there. Everyone got a chance to chat, including my mom, who came over to the house just as he called - perfect timing! :)

He told us about the size of his area (pretty large - it takes about an hour and a half to drive from border to border) and that one of the borders of his area is the Lansing mission, which is right on a county line. They have an investigator that lives right on the county line, so it's fun trying to visit them without leaving the mission boundaries. :) The ward they are assigned to is pretty good sized - the average attendance is about 250, which is actually higher than the average attendance here at home!

He challenged us to be the family the missionaries love - to be welcoming and fun, and to get referrals! LOL

He said he's going to be getting quite a few birthday gifts & sending them home, and asked if I'd just distribute them as needed - if I can remember! :D He also said he's going to be sending home about 20-30 ties - but that will still leave him with over 40, I think. :) (Yeah, he's a little nuts with his ties.) :) Also, he said he got 4 really nice suits "from a dead guy" that need to be tailored - they're about 8 inches too big in the waist - but will probably send 2 of them home, since he doesn't want to haul around 6 suits during transfer. Gee, why? :)

He encouraged the little kids to read the scriptures, especially the Book of Mormon, and told Brett to start to prepare now for his mission - he didn't feel he was prepared enough. He asked me to pass along his 'hellos' and 'thank yous' to everyone that has written, and to mention that the letters have slowed down a bit... hint, hint. ;)

That's about it. It was so, so good to hear his voice! He sounds really happy. Thanks for your support, and don't forget to write to him! Let me know if you need his addresses (either email or the apartment info).

~ Taffi

5.2.11 letter

Hey there!

Sounds like you guys had a busy week!

I can't believe it's stinkin' May already! I also can't believe I call home in 6 days.

It's been a busy, busy week! We ended up teaching 23 lessons and we got a new investigator. He is sweet! His name is Jaime LaBrose. He is like the most prepared person I've met so far. He grew up in a lot of different foster homes, and along with that experience, he has had a lot of LDS influence throughout his life and he said he wants to build his relationship with God and come closer to Him. Two weeks before we met him, he literally placed a Book of Mormon to his brother and told him it would change his life! His mom and brother were actually baptized way back in the day, but are super inactive now. So hopefully we will put him on date this week! :D

I can't wait to get the pictures and CDs you sent! I will definitely use 'em, for sure. :D

So, how are the challenges going I gave you guys? I hope it's all good!

So.... that's about it for me for this week. Nothing much happened that was too exciting.

I hope all is well!

Love you guys!

Elder Nye-Nye ;D

5.2.11 email

Hello all! How's it hangin' out there?

So first, I want to share a piece of slang that I learned from a Mister "G-Thug", yeah, that's what he told me his name was before the rest of this happened. I asked him how he was doing and he said "oh yalls know, i jus' be postin' it out here". Now, take that whole sentence and sound it out how it's spelled, and you'll know how he said it! So, I asked him, "What does "postin'" mean?" and he thought about it for a second... or ten... and said "oh you know, it's what I be doin'." I then said, "Cool... can I give you our card?" and he said, "suure." with like this low u sound hahahahhaha. I was laughing walking away! But he was a pretty nice guy.

But anyway, everything is going good out here. We taught 23 lessons and got a new investigator. So I'm pretty stoked! We've been super busy! But it's a good busy :)

I can't believe it's already stinkin' May! Wow, April went by fast!

I think that's about it for me! I'll be at the Howell address for at least till May 30th, so if you have any questions hit me up.

Peace out -

Elder Jones