Week 55 response

Hey! It was great talking to all of you, too! I hope you're all doing well still. I also hope Rachel still has both her eyes despite the bow and arrows. ;)

I'm so glad you all had a fun Christmas time. Sorry again about the problems with the phone call. That was stressful... It worked out in the end, though. It was fun to hear from so many of you. I'm sorry I didn't get to talk to Grandma and Grandpa Stamps, Ben, or Sarah. Please tell them "Hello" for me. :) 

I'm just curious, what was a typical week in the Ecuador, Taiwan, Sweden, or Alabama missions? (I think I got all of them in there...) A normal week here is a lot of street contacting, very little door approaching, and a couple lessons here and there. I imagine we may be quite different from the Ecuador mission. ;) Just to give an idea, we have talked with and given gospel material to nearly 700 people in the last 3 weeks. We don't keep track of the people that don't take gospel material. I'd love to hear what normal weeks are in other missions. :)

We haven't had any interesting lessons or people lately. We've really been working on finding those who want to hear about our message. There is one man who was slightly interested when we talked with him on the street, and was impressed when we talked with him in a lesson setting... He then got to look us up on the Internet... I'm still helping him sort out false, misunderstood, and misinterpereted information. It really all does come down to the Book of Mormon. 

I realize everyday how easy a missionary's job would be if people would just read the Book of Mormon. I'm grateful to know it's true, and I hope you all realize the blessing it is in our lives. Without the Book of Mormon, and by extension no prophets or priesthood, we'd be left to our own devices. It was sad to see the complacency of our friend when he said there is no perfect church on earth. Though true through certain lines, how much happier could he be if he realized that prophets, revelation, and God's guidance had returned to the earth. 

His argument can be explained through an analogy... he used it with me. Christ is the light of the world, and all the Christian churches are like different facets on a diamond. They all give light, and so are all "true." I am overjoyed that we are able to know that instead of having to rely on refracted light through mortal crystals, we have plain and simple truths given from God. We don't have to sit around knowing that Christ's church isn't here. We can know that He has restored it and has again brought us into His light. Please don't let that be treated lightly. It can be such a source of joy. :)

Thank you again for all you do. Thank you for your prayers and love. I am so grateful and pray for you many times every day. I hope you are expecting miracles. :) Love you all!

Press forward with steadfast faith in Christ.

Best wishes,

Elder Jones