last week i was a rapper...this week i'm a

barber. - I'll explain more later.

Well this was yet another even more dull week in the offices...

BUT IT'S STILL A GREAT DAY TO BE A MISSIONARY!!!

I'll start with whats gonna go on this week. So as a secretary I get a lot of opportunities to help plan things in the mission, and bring up ideas with President and organize a bunch of stuff that goes on. About two weeks ago we had to sit down and plan zone conferences for this coming week, and we were just talking and President says "what if we do it at the temple?" We were all just like ha that's hilarious (he took away permissions to go really anywhere for a time just because of misbehaving missionaries) but we realized that he was serious. His plan was to have each zone go to the temple and have their conference in a chapel next door, and then everyone is going to get to do a session! I'm super stoked about that (pictures and revelatory experiences to come)

This past week we had consejo, which is when all the zone leaders and Hermanas capacitadoras come to President's house and we aconsejar about everything that's happening in the mission. It's really fun because I get to see Elder Mayer (he's like my best friend basically) and we all learn from one another. We give advice to one another and can really see the unity between the leaders. It was really great. 

This is my homie Elder Mayer:

I've lost 8 POUNDS GUYS. 8 pounds since the transfers. I'm feeling pretty good and I'm still going to lose more....so no worries. I'll be skinny again someday.

So the reason I'm a barber: a few weeks ago I conseguired some clippers and started to cut my own hair. I've been cutting it for a while now, and Elder Bennion asked me to cut his for him. We've been joking about it for weeks but he finally got up the courage to let me. So I cut his hair and it turned out GREAT. I was so proud of myself and I think he was really relieved.

The work moves on here....very, very slowly but I promise it's moving. We teach Hortencia, she is a viejita that's super christian. She wants us to help prepare her for baptism so that's super awesome. She's just got terrible hours to visit her so we're figuring that part out.

We also teach Natsuki. She's this super awesome, young mom that's Japanese. She has lived in Mexico for 10 years and speaks PERFECT Spanish. We've had trilingual lessons because she also speaks English. She also works all the time so that's a little difficult to see her.

We're about to start teaching Nelly. Nelly is this dope, super important security lady in the US embassy here. All our English homies(members) have super important secret jobs in the embassy and said she's basically ready to get baptized. We're excited to help her learn more and change her life.

Finally, we're also about to start visiting Aaron. Aaron is a little boy whose mom wants him to be baptized because he's 11 and hasn't been baptized yet. I've been waiting to make a dope friend that's young and can beat me at soccer.

Please pray for me, but more so for our investigators, that they can make the right decisions in their lives.

This week was tough. I keep finding every week to be tougher and tougher because I really miss my family and friends. The offices beat a person up.  I read a BYU speech by Elder Holland called "Cast not away therefore your Confidence". It talks about...not casting away your confidence obviously, but it talks a lot about how before Joseph Smith saw God and Jesus Christ, he was taken over by this extremely powerful force, that almost stopped him, but he eventually overcame...and look what happened. Then with Moses, right after he had his face to face conversation with God, was then tempted greatly by Satan. It just shows that right around the greatest times the hardest things happen. It's like the cliche saying "everyone wants happiness, no one wants pain, but you can't have sunshine without a little rain" 

TBH it's really cliche but it's so true. I'm so grateful (well trying to be grateful) for the trials I have in my life. They help me to appreciate the good times more, and really understand why there is an opposition in all things. My invitation to you this week is to think about the trials we each pass through and why, and what we can learn from them. I know that as we do, we'll learn and grow and be able to find the best things in our lives.

I love you guys all so much! I hope that everyone is doing great back home...write me!! Send pictures, that's always fun. Cuidense, y que tengan buena semana!

-Elder Jones