This week has been great so far we had a couple of really good
experiences. One of our investigators that we taught yesterday after
church is an 18 year old boy named Edon. He is super great and he
always comes to church and does the things we invite him to do.
yesterday he opened up to us and explained that he really wants to
know if it is true and he wants to get baptized and received the
gospel in his life but her has many doubts still. But he told us that
he loves the church and all the people there and we wants the
happiness and the gospel in his life like everyone else at the church.
But he doesn't feel as if he has received his answer yet. As he was
telling us this he began to cry because he really wants to have the
gospel in his life but feels like there are things holding him back.
when he was talking I realized how lucky I was to have be born into
the gospel and have it in my life. And I also really felt the desire
to help him receive his answer. This coming Sunday he is going to fast
to receive his answer and we as well as to other members will be
fasting with him. I'm super excited for him! We also had a great OYM
experience. While walking down the street there was a guy sitting down
just as we passed him so we stopped at talked to him. He told us he
has been looking for the truth for some time and has been going to
very many different churches. We Immediately set an appointment and
taught him the next day. We taught him the restoration gave him a Book
of Mormon and everything that we taught him caught his attention
especially about Prophets and Apostles. He said the true church has to
have Prophets and Apostles. Then he told us he had a goal to find the
truth before the end of this year before 2016. It was such a miracle
and amazing experience. I'm confident that he will read, pray and
attend church.

Everything is great here. I had some fun here in the Internet shop
while Emailing. There was a bunch of kids here and one of them saw my
name tag and said Elder. So I answered. They were kind of surprised
that I spoke Tagalog so they starting quizzing me asking how many
fingers I have in Tagalog and how many hands. I answered correctly so
they were all giving me hi fives and saying "ang galing mo Kuya" which
is like your great and Kuya is a word for older brother with respect.
It was pretty cool. So they are all calling me Kuya now.

The work here is great right now. We are finding new investigators who
have a very sincere desire and many of our investigators are doing
great and with in the next month we will have several baptisms.
Mahal ko kayo lahat. Mag-ingat po kayo

Elder Jones

Hey family

This week was good we were super busy! We didn't have a ton of lessons but every lesson that we had was great. We have several investigators that are doing great the only problem is church attendance. One of our investigators was suppose to be baptized on September 12 but for some reason they weren't at church yesterday. We don't know why yet. So we will have to re extent a baptismal goal. This investigator tho is great! She is always reading and praying and so far is meeting all the requirements for baptism besides church as of now anyway since she usually is at church. Any way I'm sure she will be baptized in the future. I was actually thinking that this would be better for her since her mom and dad have baptismal goals in October. Her parents aren't yet married and her mother knows that it is true and we just started teaching the father. We invited them to be baptized on October 17. Another family that we are teaching is also doing great. I'm sure I mentioned the Benedicto family last week but they are still doing great. They are very sincere and they are really working on living the Word of Wisdom. They aren't buying or drinking coffee anymore and brother is really trying to stop smoking. We invited them and their 9 year old son to be baptized on October 3 and they all accepted. We also found out that their 7 year old son turns 8 in October as well so our goal is to have Brother Benedicto baptize him shortly after his own baptism. I'm really excited for this family and I cant wait to see them get baptized! We have also been trying to find a lot since we need more investigators but sometimes finding is the hardest part. Things are going great here tho and Im really looking forward to the several baptisms we will be having in the next few months. 

Love you all!! 

Elder Jones

So this week we had a good week. We had a zone conference last Tuesday which was great. I saw some of the missionaries who are in my old area. They made some changes there. My first district use to be 6 missionaries and 3 areas but now its only 4 missionaries and 2 areas. My first area got split and added onto the other 2 areas since the number of missionaries is going down right now. I talked with Elder Bell and Elder Packard who are both in Sta Cruz. Elder Packard and his companion have the upper part of my first area and Elder Bell and his companion have the lower part. They both tell me that all the kids there call them Elder Jones. Since I was still learning Tagalog there I spoke with all the kids and they all still remember me. That was pretty cool to hear but the best part was Sister Exyl (If you remember from my letters before) Is getting baptized soon and her husband Brother Jared is now super active in the church. They never miss church and they are always reading and praying. That was so cool to hear. My first companion and I started teaching her and Brother Jared was super inactive at then but now all of them or on the right path including brother Jared's two Kids. 

In our area we dont have a ton of investigators but we are split between 2 wards so the work here is a little different. One of our investigators that we are curently teaching is the Benedicto Family. Brother Benedicto is a large guy but extremly kind, caring, sincere and loves his family. He is currenty working to quit his habit of smoking and he is doing great. He really wants to quit. His wife is very nive as well and their family is amazing. They love to have us over and they read and pray. The only problem right now is sometimes they come to church. We are going to invite them to be baptized or re-extend a baptismal invitation. I think this September they will be baptized an entire family being baptized! Im very excited for that. Then at the end of October there second child turns 8 and can be baptized shortly after the parents and the oldest boy. 

Everything right now is great. Im getting the hang of the new area and we have some great investigators that we are teaching in our area. 
I miss you all! Have a great week! Love you!

Elder Jones

Hey Family

My new area is right by my first area and yes my companion works hard. The work here is a little different since we cover 2 wards. The Sampaloc Ward and the YSA Ward. So we go to church twice every Sunday and usually don't work very much. The institute is also here so we spend some time in the institute teaching non members who are there. So we don't spend all our time in our area. Because we cover two wards and also are in the institute the work here is a little different but its still missionary work. 

We have a family that we are teaching in our area who is super great. There is the Father, the Mother and they have 3 kids. Their last name is Benedicto. They are super kind, and sincere. There are also very committed to listening to us and have been keeping their commitments. This week when we walked in to their home to share with the we noticed a couple of cigarettes sitting on a shelf. We decided at the last second to teach the word of wisdom to them. It was so amazing the way this family listened to what we were saying and they were very involved in the lesson. We talked about blessings of the word of wisdom and things we should and should not use or eat. Both Brother and Sister committed to live it and Sister Benedicto looked so happy when her husband said that he will live the word of wisdom. Its so great to see the gospel slowly changing this families life and I cant wait to see them baptized!

Elder Jones

Hey family!!! 

Ya sorry about last week it was super crazy! My companion got called to train in Coron so I'm now back in the mainland! I'm here in Sampaloc and its literally right by my first area. My first apartment is actually in our area Right now. Leaving Coron was super hard for me. All of our investigators had baptisms coming up with in the next few weeks and I was there since the time we taught them the first lesson. 

Before I transferred we went to visit some of our investigators. We of course went to the Camacho family and when I told them I was leaving sister Camacho said "Well I don't want to get baptized now you have to be here" I just told them that whether Im there or not baptism is more important we shared one last message with them and took pictures and left. It was really hard to say goodbye to Sister Camacho, Troy, Rolelyn, Rosalinda, and Jomel and also all the little kids including my favorite RR. We then said bye to the group of teenagers we have been teaching. The first one we started teaching Dexter has changed so much. He explained how he grew up in a broken family and other things in previous lessons and now he is striving super hard to keep all the commandments. Its so amazing how much we saw him change from day 1 to the time I left! We also took pictures with all them and taught. While walking away for the last time the all called out Elder and when we looked back they were all standing there waving at us!! I guess its not Coron that I miss so much but the people! I had so many good experiences there. learned a lot, taught some amazing people and saw the gospel change their lives! When me and another Elder were sitting on the plane as it took off I couldn't stop thinking about them as I slowly watched Coron disappear! 

Everything is great my new companion is Elder Espano and he goes home in 3 months so I might be his last companion. Love you all sorry about last week! Have a great week and stay safe!!! 

Love Elder Jones