7.25.11 email

Hey all. It's gonna be a short one this week!

We had a pretty busy week. Well, waaay busy, haha - 27 lessons, 15 new investigators and 19 potentials... but it was very good.

Riding the bikes in the heat was no bueno, but I survived. :)

Not too many exciting things went down. Just talked to a lot of people!

So... we moved our p-day this week to Thursday because on Thursday...... I'M GOING TO A TIGERS GAME!! :D I'm so stoked!! haha. The tickets were given to us by members and they gave us caps to wear there too. The Tigers are playing the team from LA. So, I'm looking forward to that. And then next week, we might be moving p-day again, to try to go to the temple! But we'll see how that goes! Love ya!

Hope you all have a good week! Peace out ~

Elder Jones

7.22.11 letter

7.18.11

Family,

Hey! So, a lot of this is probably going to be repeated from the email, so bear with me.

It's been a pretty eventful week. We finished with 24 lessons, 10 new investigators and 15 potential investigators. That was nice - it pretty much made up for everything else. I had 5 flats within 5 days, I crashed my bike & had a un-opened can of soda thrown at me.

But on the plus side, I've lost 10 pounds. :) Being on a bike is different - the day goes by faster, but it draws it out, too. I've only been here for 6 days, but it feels like a couple of weeks!

But aside from all of the not-so-good things that have happened, I've seen a ton of miracles, too. The first one that I've been trying to count as a miracle would have to be the flat tires.

What was happening was, that on the rims of the bike, the hole that the valve stem comes out of is sharp. So as I rode along, every time, pressure was being applied to the stem, and the rim cut the stem. And it happened to be cutting it right at the base of the stem and the tube - so there is/was no way I could patch it.... so I kept having to buy new tubes. Well, right now I have a different rim on the front from an old bike, and on the back, I have ground it down and put 2 rubbers around the rim, and bought a heavy-duty tube for the back. So, hopefully, knock-on-wood, I won't have any more flats! I'm not quite sure what I'm gonna do about the front yet, though.

But, I'm counting that as a blessing, because I'm learning patience, and I'm learning how to fix my bike in-depth. :)

The other miracle is actually pretty amazing. Because of the tube issues, I have kept having to undo my brakes and take off the tire. Well, after my last fix on the tires, we were in a hurry to get to an appointment that we were already late to. Well, we were riding down a street named Florence, which comes up on a street named 6 Mile (which is a major travel way) and we needed to cross it. Well, I went to slow down & all of a sudden , I lost control of the bike & hit a curb that was like a divider or something, and I hit the pavement pretty hard. Well, I got back up, patched up my elbow, looked at my torn pants and knee, then tried to ride away. Well, I did a once-over on my bike, and realized that neither my front or back brakes were connected. I was only 20 feet from 6 Mile when I crashed. If I hadn't have crashed, I would have surely been hit by a car.

So yeah, I'm counting that as a miracle! :)

Another cool thing that happened was we put a 76-year-old guy on date that has been smoking for 66 years! He hasn't smoked in two days, and I hope he never will again! :D

How is everything back home? I guarantee that the weather is nicer! ;) Hahaha! You don't have to deal with the humidity!

Well, I gotta go finish laundry, then we gotta bike over to the store & get groceries. Biking gallons of milk plus food for the week sucks! It would be amazing if we had someone to take us to the store and back. But hey - life goes on, right? :)

Oh! I'm 5 months out now! Crazy!! :D

Love you guys! Stay safe!

Peace out ~

With love,

Elder Nye-Nye Jones :)

7.18.11 email

Hey!

Everything is going good here for the most part. I've had an interesting first week. Let's see here.... I had 5 flats in 5 days, I crashed my bike which ended up being a miracle and I had a un-opened pop can thrown at me from a car! Detroit seems pretty interesting thus far.

There are some pretty sweet people here and the same for the opposite. The weather is taking a toll on me, but I guess it does that to everyone. Elder Hunt is awesome, but I'm kinda stressing out because I know he'll be leaving (cuz he's going home in a month) and this place is confusing! He is super focused for the most part!

The flats have been a test of patience, both for me and for Elder Hunt! I'm just going to shorten the bike wreck story down. After the last flat I fixed, we headed to an appointment because we were late, and we were riding up on 6-mile (a super-busy street) from a side street and I tried for the brakes - and all of a sudden, I was on the ground after I hit this weird concrete divide. Well I got up, checked my bloodied elbow and my ripped pants, and then looked at my bike.... neither my front OR back brakes were hooked up. We were in such a hurry to get to that appointment that we forgot to hook the brakes up. If I wouldn't have crashed, I would have rolled out into 6 mile with no brakes and would have for sure got hit by a car. I crashed only 20 feet from the intersection. So... I am definitely counting that in my miracle book, because there is no way that that is an accident!!

But everything else is good! It's been waaaaaay hot, but it's all good. I've been drinking about a gallon and a half of water a day to stay hydrated!

Stay safe and stay cool!

Peace out ~

Elder Jones

photos from Flint:

First one is me and the Smiths, and the second two are me and Izzsh, Keyosha, and Christian.

7.12.11 email

Hey there,

So my new area is called Dexter. I am officially in the dirty D. hahaha I'm in Detroit now! It's an all-bike area, so that will be fun. I'm just excited, because at least this apartment has a.c.! But it's no match for the 95 degree weather outside! haha Hope you all have a good week!

peace out ~

Elder Jones

{note from Mom: let me know if you'd like his new address!} :)

7.11.11 email

Hello!

This last week was a pretty good week! We stayed busy and ended up finishing with over 20 lessons, on top of the leadership training day and preparation day, so that made me feel pretty good.

I was able to confirm Terri S. on Sunday, so that was cool - it took a month but it was definitely worth it! Mike M. is set for getting baptized next Sunday! I'm way excited for him!

But..... I won't be there for it, cuz I'm getting transferred! I got the call this last Saturday, and I've been packing ever since! I'll find out where I'm going at the meeting tomorrow morning. We'll see how that goes!

The first picture was taken at Izzsh and Keyosha's baptism! I've been meaning to send it for a long minute so here ya go!

The second picture is of a billboard for a pie. DON'T EVER EAT IT. It tastes like what rabbit food smells like!!

And the 3rd picture is of Keyosha and Christian wearing our ties, because they wanted to look like missionaries too! haha.

Well, I think that's about all!

Peace out ~

Elder Jones

letter 7.8.11

Family! 7.4.11

Hey there! How are y'all doing? Have a good 4th of July? Anything fun or interesting happen? :)

Everything is going good here. Been super busy!

Like I said a week or two ago, we had two more baptisms, Izzsh & Keyosha. They have both been confirmed, so we're all happy about that. We have another baptism scheduled for July 17th! Mike M. is finally getting dunked! We're all super excited. I hope I will still be in this area then. Transfers are next Tuesday, the 12th, and there is like a good 75-80% chance that me & ElMo will be splitting up. We'll see!

It's been an interesting last few days. It's been hotter than Hades! Plus, our AC broke Friday night, and no one will be in the office till tomorrow (Tuesday). So it was 98* outside and stinkin' 85* in the apartment! So we're trying not to stay there as much as we can. :)

Well, I gotta get runnin'! We're going golfing today with our old ward mission leader. So I'm pretty stoked for that! :)

I miss you guys! I love you all, too!

Be safe & have fun!

~ Love,

Elder Jones

7.5.11 email

Hey all... how are ya.

Everything is going good here. We've been busy! I never thought I'd be pleased with being how tired I am. But, it's all good.

We went to the temple last Thursday, and it was sweet.

We had a pretty fun 4th of July. We went golfing with our old ward mission leader, it was fun. I got a little too much sun but it's all good. I split my thumb open on our fan, but a little super glue fixed it right up! It's a little swollen, but it's all good. :)

It's crazy to think that this is already the last week of the transfer. This Saturday night, I'll find out if I'm getting transferred or not. So (just in case) if ya are gonna send anything this week, just send it to the mission office.

Well, I gotta get going! Peace out, y'all.

~ Elder Jones

letter 7.1.11

Family! 6.27.11

Hey there!! How's it going? :)

Short letter this week, you'll hear about it in the email Thursday. But... Thanks for the package, everything was and is much, much, much appreciated! :)

We had two baptisms this last Sunday, and one confirmation. Keyosha was confirmed yesterday, and Izzsh (pronounced Ausha) and Terri are being confirmed next Sunday. And Terri wants me to confirm her on Sunday, so I'm looking forward to that! :)

Thank you for the addresses!

I hope you guys have a great week!

LOVE YOU!

~ Elder NYE-NYE Jones

P.S. - Any chance I could get more stamps? :) Oh, and by the way, I have to get another inhaler, so you'll see that on my debit statement. :)

to Dad 7.1.11

Hey,

I just wanted to say Happy Birthday! Just think, everyone celebrates your birthday by blowing stuff up! haha. I hope you liked your tie - I got it with you in mind - I could envision you wearing it to church.

Anyway - I just wanted to wish you a happy birthday and let you know that I'm thinking about you!

Be sure to blow up some extra stuff and lite another one of Mark's bushes on fire for me! LOL As missionaries, we're not allowed to have or buy fireworks, so do some 'work' for me! :)

Have a good one!

With love,

Elder Jones