Friday, March 31, 2017

i'm sick of airports

So basically I've been to the airport 3 times in the past 24 hours (as of Wednesday morning when I started writing this). Elder Sweat and I are running on about 5 hours of combined sleep the past 2 days. The secretary life is the greatest life, amirite?

We had an accident with a missionary and he had to go home so Elder Bennion actually left me about 2 days early...I actually miss him haha. But Elder Sweat and I are killing it here in the offices. This coming week I think we'll be able to settle in and start going at it hard here in the area. These past few days have been CRAZY busy, with the new changes, going to the airport a million times, and tonight having to plan leadership council, and then tomorrow actually is leadership council...we've just been super duper busy. I'm exhausted.


This will be short because I don't want to bore you all to death. I had to replace some toner in our printer this week. I took out the old cartridge because it wasn't letting us print at all and I decided to take apart the cartridge. As I'm taking it apart, I finally find the part with the ink or whatever and then all this blue dust falls out. I begin to freak out then realize that the toner is just some kind of dust....so I decided to be an artist for a few minutes and this is what happened:


​Can someone sell this as art for a couple thousand and throw it in a compound interest account?

​Also I've decided to partner with Nike as their new advertising agent.

Today we had consejo, which is when all the leaders of the mission get together and we talk and have training and eat. Today I learned how to make carne al pastor. Al pastor is like the biggest food group in Mexico. Also the best tasting. I thought I'd include some instructions on how to make it:
1.) buy a half kilo of cabeza de lomo (lamb head, I think)
2.) chop it up pretty finely, not ground but finely
3.) throw in oregano, salt, pepper, and a little cumin to taste
4.) add a little vinegar
5.) buy some dried up guajillo chiles and then wash them and boil them in a pot of water. Then blender it, and drain out the water through a really fine strainer like a sifter. Then pick out the big chunks, and throw that kind of paste in also.
6.) then chop up an onion or half onion depending on if you really like onion (whichever way you like) and throw that in
7.) then if you want to do it the right way, chop up some pineapple (the top part that's not as sweet) and also throw it in there. 
8.) mix and mash it all together in a bowl with your hands
9.) then cook a little at a time in a pan, sauteing it until it's all done. 
10.) then make a good salsa and get some corn tortillas out and you're ready to go


Also at consejo we had Hermano Tejeda come. He is this super cool guy in our ward who does pretty well working as some kind of guy who helps directors of businesses develop and achieve goals personally and for their business. He talked about leadership and accountability and it was honestly so great what he talked about. For me I think it was great because he related the success we can have and the motivation and drive we have to a business kind of model, and how business directors have that drive and then how it leads to their success. I want to share a few quick things that I learned today. He talked a lot about this circle:

​It all starts with the why. If we don't have a why of why we do certain things, then what are we even doing? Once we know the "why" then we can work outwards to the how and what. He used a quote from a guy named Simon Sinek that said "people don't buy what you do, they buy why you do it." Obviously this is in a business sense but I thought it was crazy how that applied to missionary work. People aren't "buying" the fact that we're here just preaching and talking to everyone and whatever. They're "buying" why we do it. For example, the testimony that each one of us has gained is our "product" and we're sharing it with everyone. Another example, I'm here because I know how much my Father in Heaven loves me and I want to share it with everyone that I can. If other people see that and begin to feel that love, they're going to "buy my product". This was all put in very business-y terms and seems like we're just selling some message, but honestly it's such a good point that is made.

I think that all of us need to find our "why". Why do we do what we do? Why are we here? Why do we keep on keeping on? When we do, we'll begin to understand more. In whatever aspect of our life this can be such a huge part. This is especially important in the gospel though. One thing we do a lot with less actives is become their friends first, but then we ask them why they got baptized. This starts to help them to remember, and start to act on it. When we have those doubting times or big trials in our lives, all we have to do is step back into that inner circle and ask ourselves, "why?" and with that, we'll start the path back to that strong faith we had. There's a scripture in D&C 122 that says, all of these things will give you experience and be for your good. 

I know that it's tough to live and breathe some times with every thing that goes on in our lives, but I know that our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love us, they're always here for us even if we feel that they are forever away. I know if we can remember that, that we can make it through any trial in our lives. I've lived it and I'll never forget the lessons I've learned.

Love you guys! 

oh btw feliz cumplemeses to me

​Have a great week! 

- Elder Jones

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