Jones, Talmage T

Merry Christmas, everyone! Wow, I had an intense week. I attended a leadership training, mission conference, and technology specialist meeting. A lot of learning and improving! However, I did a lot of teaching and finding with Elder Maycock; I thoroughly enjoyed it! We visited Hermana Gastelum, which was awesome! She is struggling a lot right now, and she opened up so much to us. She has so much faith. The Spirit had a strong presence there for sure. We are helping her spiritually, and we are seeking to talk to Hugo as well. We are teaching friends named Felix and Jaime, which is great! We are focused on teaching about the Book of Mormon. Audry is seeking a place to live, so please pray for her. That's about it for now. Love you all! Elder Jones

Hello all! What a great time to be alive. I received transfer news, and I'm staying in Auburn for my fourth transfer! I'm so stoked to stay! Elder Maycock is my new companion, and he is incredible. He is the only Spanish elder in my mission who has been out longer than me, and his Spanish is really good. I love serving with him so much! I enjoyed training, but it's good to have a little break; training was exhausting at times. Elder Maycock is teaching me so much already. He is so consecrated and intentional about being a missionary, and it has reminded me that I am doing a great job. I feel better about being obedient because Elder Maycock has the same desire to be that way, too. He and I get along great! We love our new ward! Elder Maycock is loved by our members because he has served in Federal Way and Auburn before, too. While we were at church, our car window got smashed by someone! They broke into our car but didn't steal anything! We had to clean up the mess and ...

I have been tossed into a whirlwind of changes this week! This coming week will bring even more, so I'm taking a deep breath, hoping I can bear it all. Here are some recent and upcoming changes: We met as a new ward for the first time on Sunday (12/10)! I said goodbye to my good friend, Elder Cook. It was hard because he taught me a lot and is devoted to the Lord. He is at the airport and flying to India to serve where he was originally assigned! Four missionaries in Auburn are finishing their missions and heading home. We are taking Elder Wood to the airport on Thursday. He'll be flying to Peru for his original assignment. This will be hard; Elder Wood is an amazing Spanish elder. Transfer news happens on Wednesday. Elder Townsend and I are likely going to split up. After over four months of serving with him, I'm going to find out who stays and who leaves. We went to the Bellevue Nativity Festival last night, and it was incredible! I got to sing in our missionary choir, an...