Already Awesome Auburn

Some alliteration for you all. Hope you enjoy.

In all seriousness, Auburn is wonderful! We keep making miracle videos because there have been so many extraordinary things happening.

Elder Townsend is the best! He and I get along so well. We have many inside jokes and laugh a lot. At the same time, we are working to speak Spanish as much as we can and get to know our investigators and members really well. This past week was packed with amazing things, so I'm a little jealous of Elder Townsend that his first week in the mission field was so amazing. It gets me excited to continue in this area!

Our most progressing friend is Raúl. He and his brother meet at the church on Wednesdays at 7 pm where we have lessons. Raúl has a few questions about certain things, but he's been taught almost everything! On Wednesday, we taught the 2 Great Commandments, as well as the 10 Commandments. He and our members have brought up baptism a couple of times, so he's aware of where he wants to be. He came to church on Sunday and even commented multiple times in Sunday School! He understands the gospel and God's will so well. We have a member set to join our lesson with Raúl this Wednesday, so we're looking forward to that. Ivan is Raúl's brother, and he has similar desires like Raúl, but he is a little less committed. We're still teaching him when he comes, though.

We have been receiving names of interested Latinos from our English missionaries. We got like 4, and 2 of them were pretty solid! We're grateful when we get people like this.

We had a good lesson with a friend named Jose. He injured his back a while back, so we approached his home and saw him lying down in a flattened chair. He wasn't doing anything in particular, so we sat with him and got to know him. We talked about the Book of Mormon and prayer! He is a kind man, and we have a member set to join us for another lesson on Tuesday.

Our English class has been pretty good lately. We have 3 or 4 students who are doing well with learning the language. We have a lot of fun with it! One of the students was so grateful for being able to learn English that he asked to get a photo with us! I was so humbled.

We visited a guy who attended church a few weeks ago, and he was nice! I recognized the lady behind him; she is the sister of a member whom I knew back in Federal Way. Her name is Guadalupe Gastelum. The guy is Hugo. They are both so nice to us, and we got to talk with them about church and the temple. It was great! She is a less-active member, and he is not a member. We are anxious to visit them and have them feel welcomed back to church.

Soccer night is on Saturdays, and it has been a little slow. The first Saturday, we had a no-show, so it was a bit of a bummer. However, this past Saturday, one friend came! We practiced shooting and stuff. I'm grateful for even one person!

When we went to visit a friend this one day, we saw a guy in a truck looking at us. He recognized us and called us over. It turned out that he knows all of the Spanish elders from the last year or so! He recognized the white shirt and black nametag right away. He knew their names and where they went; I was so impressed! He was very kind with us, and we visited him yesterday (Sunday). His name is Reynolds. He's been to church in the past, but he's not terribly interested right now. When we visited him, we planned to teach him the Articles of Faith, but we felt prompted to avoid that route. Instead, we just listened to his feelings and experiences with past missionaries. We prayed with him and then left. I'm so grateful for the guidance of the Holy Ghost in directing me to know what to say and do! We're going to take it slow with him and be his genuine friend before we jump into teaching him too fast. That's what he needs.

I hope you all feel how amazing Auburn is from reading my experiences. I, for sure, miss Enumclaw though.

An awesome scripture I read recently is Alma 34:38. I invite you to read it; it summarizes our constant need for each member of the Godhead.

Anyways, that's my update.

Que bonita mi experiencia con los hispanohablantes esta semana. Estoy tan agradecido por mis desafíos, aunque son difíciles. Yo estaba nervioso para entrenar a otro nuevo misionero en una nueva área otra vez, pero actué en fe y fui bendecido. Siempre confíe en Dios antes de temer, y bendiciones vendrán. Les prometo.

¡Hasta luego!

Elder Jones