Week 51 "New IPads"

First iPad e mail!!!!!

Hello one and all.  I can honestly tell you that although pecking at the IPad is not as convenient as a computer, it is certainly convenient to be able to email nearly anywhere thanks to these nifty little devices.  On Thursday we picked them up and I was a little hesitant to use it and I still am but hey I think this is the way for us to go now, and we gotta accept the iPad as a tool for missionary work.  I bet you're all wondering how we are planning on doing missionary work on the iPad and it's pretty simple right now.  Studies, presentation for videos and other documents, and that's it for the moment.  FB is currently not in the picture but we will stay tuned.  As of currently that domain has been suspended until further notice by the First Presidency of the church.  Although we don't currently proselyte online, elder Hansen and I are soaking up the knowledge that's only fingertips away; conference talks, scriptures in diverse languages, and quick study links are a few of the features we've used most recently.  This morning I studied prophets - ancient and modern - their prophesies and promises concerning Jesus Christ.  I really enjoyed moving back and forth between links and articles quickly, and what a cool blessing it is to use these tools.

   Back to the physical world.  Our week was tiring; with a moderate hay fever draining our energy, we worked and worked with pretty marginal outward results.  However, most the time it's really really difficult, impossible in fact, to gauge success by what merely happens to you during the day.  After a frustrating set of circumstances that prevented most of our investigators from progressing elder Hansen and I were talking about our success in the week, and although it wasn't manifest by our number goals, I really felt like we overcame lots of opposition and pressed on. That made us successful.  Now we are at McDonald's waiting to see how long we can use the wifi before they tell us to leave, and waiting for another week to go and work starting tonight, but I keep remembering that the Lord will make it work out, because he does every time.  

   Funny events that happened this week: while waiting for the underground train (the RER) back to Cergy after our conference a man's suitcase helplessly rolled to the ledge and fell down on the tracks seconds before the train came in.  In fear the suitcase would explode i turned my face away and...nothing.  The suitcase had fallen, rolled to the side of the tracks and stayed there until the train left and someone hopped down to get it.  Woooooh.  Another thing that we could say is funny, but more bizarre than funny, an elder Weber came back to Cergy while on an internship for BYU.  We took the afternoon walking over to visit a convert in the ward that was baptized while was serving in the area, he helped her talk through some difficulties, and it was fun to meet a mission alumni. 

   Spiritual experiences of the week.  After configuration of our iPads at the church Friday afternoon we were coming home to eat and waiting for our bus. While waiting a lady approached the bus stop.  The lady was pushing a stroller with a not so happy baby inside, three other kids were at her sides with tennis rackets (they must have come from practice) and to top it off, she was carrying in her other hand a large bookshelf.  Obviously this lady needed, or would like a little help.  My companion and I offered to carry her bookshelf, of course she said yes.  The bus came, we loaded it onto the bus for her, and then got off the bus and carried the bookshelf to her apartment five minutes away by foot.  All the time talking with her about life, her family, our role as missionaries etc.  After we arrived to her apartment she told us for the third time how thankful she was for our help, I could not resist sharing the gospel with her.  It's like heaven handed us the occasion and I had to tell her more.  Ma'am, I know we didn't talk too much about what we believe but we would love to share more.  We have a plan, thanks to what we believe and know that tells us where we were before this life, our purpose here, and what happens after.  This knowledge has helped me and my family so much.  I know we don't have a lot of time now but could we share this message with you some time soon? 

Yes, of course, she said.  You can meet me next week....[and that's that!]. I loved that experience because I felt like the fact that we served this woman really made sharing our plan of salvation a lot more simple and natural.  

   What else? Elder Hansen and I talked with quite a big handful of people on the train, on the bus, and on the street, and many many people saw good and truth in what we taught.  Sadly not everyone wanted to see us again so we could explain things and help them continue their search for this good knowledge we have.  It's okay.  The cool thing was we pulled out our iPads a couple times to teach on the road, and I can't wait to discover through experience how to use these devices wisely. Met a French lady and her baby, an African family, another African family, and two French women who were all interested in what we had to say.  I would love to tell you every story of the week: that would take hours of time I unfortunately don't have but I could try and summarize it all by saying a few things.  Take heart.  Use and rely on Jesus Christ.  Keep working even though tired.  Trust in God and in good things coming.  Thanks PMG and Jeffery R Holland for the quotable phrases.  LOVE

elder Jamison JONES

Week 50 "Boat Church"

This week the most interesting experience happened with a floating church

Hello Everyone!

I'm stressed and tired, but everything has never been better on the mission.  This week was full of craziness, literally, never has a week on my mission been filled like this one. To summarize the experiences for everyone, went on a boat to meet a church minister and his congregation, got pretty mad at a guy trying argue us illogically, invited three people to be baptzed, tried to get to know the new ward.  WOW.  

   So let's start with the boat minister...A train conversation led to this nice man, Mr. Simone, inviting us to lunch on his boat.  On a boat?  Isn't that not allowed, I wondered.  After discussing with my companion we concluded that he had invited us, and if the boat was planning on undocking and riding around we would not accept.  But fortunately we showed up to a surprise.  Mr. Simone was a minister for his church, his boat church.  We show up to the river's edge asking some australian boatmen for directions and they say, 'You could try that church over there'  Oh, the floating one!? Okay, thanks.  We ask for Mr. Simone, and a lady leads us down into the boat.  I'm surprised to find the boat fitted as a big dining hall with at least fifty people sitting at two long tables.  The lady calls up Mr. Simone, and he comes up to greet us, then beckons us down to eat with his 'congregation'. After eating king sized portions he introduces us to the congregation, the majority of which consisted of Tibetan refugees who applauded for us after the translator made our introduction.  Too bad we didn't get permission to testify to the congregation.  We did, however, get to tell the whole church staff our objective and purpose here as missionaries, and they even accepted the offer to let us pray with them as we left!  I won't forget that experience, how many times do you find a church on a boat?

   No good week comes without bad.  We were out wednesday night facing some bizarre opposition, you know, just a nice 'no' streak, followed by some pretty rude remarks from a guy on his bike, then a man who tried to tell us the prophets in the Book of Mormon prophesied nothing relevant when compared to those in the bible. We don't bible bash, nor bash any scriptures, so we abruptly told him we had to go, and that was the end of that night.  

We went to Notra Dame in Paris and the line was 2 hours so we decided to eat Panini's instead

   Difficult days like that seem not so bad when compared to all the miracles we saw this week.  We had a couple of insane days, finding quite a few genuine people who wanted to hear the restored gospel.  J.  our investigator, thanks to inspiration and good planning, now understands why baptism by proper authority is necessary, and he desires his baptism to happen as soon as possible, so really, stay tuned.  That afternoon, we saw an ancient investigator and we asked him, alright, it's been a long time since you met the missionaries, it's got to be that you don't understand something.  That's it, he said, I just don't feel like I know enough to be baptized.  Okay, we said, let's go through the baptismal interview questions with you.  In brief he understands better than most, the only concern is his church attendance.  He's never come before, so once he starts coming he can be baptized.  After that lesson we felt pretty blown away.  I was relaxing playing the piano, when a lady walked into the church and said, Hello, I always see your church but until today, I've never seen the lights on but I feel so lost and I just felt like your church could help me.  Do you know anyone who could teach me?  Yes, maam, we do; we're the missionaries for this church and we can help you feel more comfort through the restored teachings of Jesus Christ that we have.  After a good half hour of discussion we finished with inviting her to church and inviting her toward baptism, which she accepted.  Remember that this is all in the same day, so I didn't really have words for this experience.  

   That highlights the week, although so much happened I think those were the main experiences that I could share with you all.  I love being a missionary, there is no work more compelling, more tiring, more reawarding.  Get out here.  It's so awesome.  I love you!

Elder JAMISON JONES

Thank you family for all your letters this week!

Week 49 "Cergy!"

HEEEEEEEYY!  I'm here!  Paris!  This place is beautiful, crowded, and full of life.  Apart from St. Quentin where you could walk those streets for days and not find a lot of people, there are people coming out the gutters here.  There are so many people to talk to.  Which makes missionary work amazing.  I'm still on a high from getting here almost a week ago.

  

Saying Goodbye to Pascal, Tierry and Elder Bigelow

My head is exploding with all those paintings.   I love the sculptures! 

Before I start I have to send a shoutout to Ginny and the guy oh Joe!  That's his name.  I have to wish you two the best of luck with everything.  Jamais deux sans trois as the french say....well also congrats to Willy, Sam, and Abby who all graduated!  School is out!  What a great feeling.  Now you get the bright big future coming your way.  Way to go you all!

At the Louvre seeing the famous "Mona Lisa" painting 

    Alright I will make this short.  Cergy is such a wonderful place.  Lots of people to talk to.  My companion and I have so many opportunities to help people or share the gospel.  We went finding the first day I was here and we had a wonderful time.  I really feel like there are people placed in our path here, and though it's a big challenge to work hard and follow the spirit, we got this, God will bless us.  We experienced some very very cool miracles and I would spend a long time telling them all to you.  Let me share just one. Last night we went looking for people to teach, and we found a lot of people...who really needed our help.  We took a bus thinking we knew where it would take us, and waited, until we realized that we weren't going where we wanted to.  We made the decision to stay on, figuring that the last stop was somewhere we knew.  About ten minutes into the ride a lady lugged all these huge bags onto the bus and we asked her if she needed help, and she thankfully accepted.  She was going back to her native land - Haiti, where my last comp's origins were.  I talked to her for a little bit, while simultaneously my companion was talking to a lady who was crying, and I think he cheered her up.  We got to the train station, and helped the haitian woman load her bags through the gates, up the stairs, down an escalator, and onto a train.  We talked a tiny bit about the church and we gave her our card, and though that wasn't very much I felt like the service we gave her made the biggest difference.  

   So,  Cergy.  It's a beautiful place.  So much happens.  It's a run for my money to keep calm and carry on but with prayer it's totally possible.  Wow.  Deep breath.  Ok.  The apartment I'm in is a bit of an adjustment...being in a four-man with everyone who has different likes and dislikes...it was pretty dirty.  So my cleaning skills were really worthwhile and now our apartment is a lot cleaner.  I feel like I'm really improving each week, expecially right now.  I feel like Heavenly father has really put me here and we're going to see some amazing miracles!  I love you all so much!

Elder Jamison Jones 

Week 48 "Saying Goodbye to St. Quentin"

Elder Jones last few days in St. Quentin

As we received the repetoire I saw I will no longer serve in St. Quentin but instead, Cergy!  This little city is right outside of paris, and I'm looking forward to the higher people concentration and hey maybe I'll pick up some Parisian culture.

Saying goodbye to Pascal

   Three biggest adventures this week:  Ward Barbecue, washing dry clean only pants, and meeting a new investigator.   This week culminated in our ward conference, which went very well.  Saturday, we met up as a ward, split into pairs, and went to visit less-active or other members in the ward.  I got to go with Luc Desmedt, the father of Jules and Marie.  We went around to a couple houses to invite people to some events that were going on, including our ward Barbecue that night.  As we walked up a certain road, the very family we were going to visit came out of their house.  As we caught up to them they explained to us that they were about to wash their car, and we gladly stepped in right away and helped them, the classic sponge and bucket way.  After the car looked good went inside and helped them put up some wallpaper. It was thanks to Frere Desmedt who came in with an attitude of 'we don't mind if you say no that's alright we don't need help, we'll help you anyway. I'm going to remember that example of service and initiative-taking, and try to apply that way of acting and just helping out.   After our service-visit we had a French-style ward barbecue, what makes it French is the fact that there are always baguettes and quiche, and more desserts after the main meal.  Many members came, a couple brought their friends and we got to explain a little about the gospel to them.

Setting up for Ward Barbeque St. Quentin

   One man named Yazid came to the barbecue as well.  Having been contacted by the missionaries multiple times already, he ran into our zone leaders a week ago, and what a miracle, he showed up at the church again this week during the sisters' lesson with an investigator.  They informed him of the ward barbecue, and we finally got to see him - in the flesh!  We talked and set a time to see him with...the Desmedt's!   I am really looking forward to it because they are such a kind, good family and will really take care of him, I'm hoping.

   The many other various adventures of the week are as follows:  I got prideful and decided my 'dry clean only' pants could be put in the washer, and they came out fuzzier, tighter, and darker.  Haha, I guess they're a little more french now.  On our way back from a solid lesson with Thierry our recent convert we say mammataus clouds!  I'm a bit of a meteorologist  so I had a science nerd anxiety attack - I've always wanted to see those clouds! We went contacting and encountered a man we had called a million times in the phone but had never met until now, then we invited him to the barbecue! We journed down to Anizy-Le-Chateau to visit a referral, turns out he moved back to the United States, and we just taught the senior couple who took care of him during his time in France.  Upon our visit to a senior center, our potential investigator resident took us on a tour, introducing us as his american friends.  The other seniors gave us thanks for saving them from the Germans, when really that's more our grandparents - haha, that was a really fun experience.  

   Last District Meeting.  ELder Christiansen the one with sixteen.  Elder Dayley.  Sister Brazeal.  Sister King.  Elder and Sister wilson.  Me and Elder Bigelow 

Just a final more spiritual note to wrap up the week.  I've been overcoming a lot of stress during the last couple of weeks on my mission, and for overcoming stressful situations these are some ideas I've found helpful. Plan your day, especially if you're a missionary, plan WELL.  Choose to be happy and grateful and prayerful.  Readjust expectation to realistic.  I love you all.  Thank you for your prayers and support.  Love Elder Jones

Off to Cergy, France.

Week 47 "Zone Conference in Paris"

                                                             Zone Conference May 2015

Hello Hello, testing one two three....houston do you read?  Copy.  pssschh. 

How to summarize the week?  We helped members with yardwork, ate some really good food with members, and found people!  Yeah!  Two groups of people.  

   First is C a guy from africa, his son, and his friend, G. C is from Congo, and the sister missionaries had taught his wife, but now we got to teach him! The guy named G we ran into on the street two or three times already, and so when we came to C's house to teach it was a, 'I know I've seen you multiple times already' situation.  We taught them about the restoration.  They both want to come to church, and I am excited for these three to progress toward baptism.  C was really into the lesson, he is full of faith, but G had some doubts concerning the truthfullness of the Book of Mormon.  We told him, 'G, It's okay to have doubts, you just have to take time and Heavenly Father will help you understand things.'  There are times when people feel like they can't learn because they have doubts, but God will help us understand if we keep pressing on, just like this man we're teaching. 

Elder Bigelow and Elder Jones in Saint Quentin

   The next group is two men we're teaching.  We were walking to visit a less active when a man waved us down when we crossed the street toward him.  Pretty amazing, he just wanted to know what we do here and learn about our church.  Luckily they live a stone's throw away from the church, so we're inviting them to church and the chances are pretty high they'll come.   In other words they don't have an excuse not to.  When we went over this week we taught them the plan of salvation, and at the end they were impressed, saying that what we told them was more than their preist had told them before.  That's the true benefit of resored and true religion. :)

The streets of St. Quentin during a morning run.

   We had a great experience this week.  We've been contacting a lot the past three or four weeks and not to too much avail, but despite the seemingly unprofitable efforts the Lord has a lot of good hidden along the way for us and that was the case this week. One night we were out contacting along our way to invite members to a Barbecue ward activity.  Walking to one member's house I had the feeling, or I couldn't tell, to ring the doorbell of a certain home.  I was unsure of it, so upon our return I decided within myself to ring it, because all good things come from God, so why not?  I didn't know what I would end up saying, but as I rang the sonné system and the man answered I felt like I should invite him to our church's barbecue.  He came outside and we told him how we were missionaries just inviting people to our church's activity. The man told us he sadly couldn't make it, but he said if we have any other events going on he'd love to come.  I left feeling really happy I had invited someone to come to something that our church was doing, because even though it wasn't a direct invitation to hear about the gospel's restoration, I believe the seeds of the gospel we plant can come from small things, even inviting people to a church activity.  

    That's the news for the week, Over. Psccch.  And Out.

Love Elder Jamison Jones

Elder Bigelow turned 20!! We celebrated at the Three Brasseurs

A zoom up of one of those chicks you sent me.  For a FHE activity we applied the activity from rafael e pino's talk, The Eternal Perspective of the Gospel!