Kent Is King And I Am One Of 5 Elder Jones'
Another week in this great work! Sure has been eye opening this week.
I'm not gonna lie--it is SO hard having to say goodbye to one of two companions with only 3 weeks in the field. I bonded strongly with Elder Perez, and he finished his mission on Thursday. A lot of my weekly photos focused on him because of this. He flew to Arizona on Friday to baptize his Uncle(even if he's not technically a full time missionary anymore)so he REALLY gave it his best until the very end. I love him, and I'm excited to start getting one on one training with my trainer Elder Lancaster.
The name of my zone group chat is "Kent is King" because we think our zone is the best. We are averaging 1 baptism per week for just a month of this transfer (I was a part of a baptism on 8/6, some of our sister missionaries had one on 8/13, and my companion and I have 2 planned for 9/3). Don't get me wrong; more baptisms does not mean better. I just put that in there because we are excited about that. We work hard with getting member involved events, doing stretch goals, and inviting friends to church. I LOVE my zone.
I've had some fun encounters with dogs and children this week, so I'm getting the real deal on what the mission field is like. I've been learning to focus on what the friends or members are saying, understand words being spoken in Spanish, and appealing to the audience and not so much to just the lesson. There are always distractions (like cute babies, toddlers, or pet rabbits), and it's been good for me to learn to focus on the Spirit and learn from my trainer during our teaching. I'm grateful for when people are graceful, understand I am a relatively new missionary, and compliment me on the Spanish I DO know.
Another thing--there have been 5 total Elders in the Seattle mission with the last name Jones, including me. My trainer has been companions with 4 of them, so when he talks about them, he has to say "Elder Jones IV" (IV means four or fourth, for those of you who don't know Roman numerals) for me and "Elder Jones I or III"(first or third) for the others that he tells stories about. Two of them were at our leadership meeting (3 total including me), so hearing Elder Jones caught me off guard a lot. I thought this was crazy yet funny.
I want testify of the power of faith and the Holy Ghost. When we have faith that something can happen, we see more miracles and become open to what the Spirit tells us. Faith has strengthened my companionship as well as the testimony of a lady we taught yesterday. She said she "felt something different when she talked to us", and we explained that it was the Holy Ghost she was feeling. She wants to hear more and took a tabbed Book of Mormon with a Restoration pamphlet tucked in it. This kind of thing happens with faith, and no wonder it's the first principle in the doctrine of Christ. The Holy Ghost ensures that we are doing the right thing when we demonstrate hope in things we cannot see. I know this, and I hope it helps someone who reads this email. FAITH WORKS.
Love you all!
Here is my weekly photos link!
P.S. I love fun facts, and here's one. It is President Nelson's 98th birthday on September 9th, so that's awesome! For those who don't know who this incredible man is, he is the current Prophet and President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints--the church I'm a missionary for. I'm proud to be a missionary, and I'm happy to serve the Lord!
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