Week 22 (from Jordan)

It was great hearing from all of you just now! Only another 7 months till we can do it again!

 

I'm very happy to hear everyone is doing better, though I hope you all get completely better soon. I would highly recommend some kimchi for that ;)

 

Well, you said you wanted some more information on how I'm doing, so here goes:

 

We have gotten a new investigator who got the Korean equivalent of the Medal of Valor, but we still don't know for what because he was speaking Korean... He was a sniper on the DMZ I found out yesterday and is having a fair bit of PTSD, but we're working with him, and he says he feels better when he's with us. He has cut back on drinking and smoking and we haven't done the WoW lesson yet.

 

It rained really hard yesterday, but we had wanted to visit some less-actives, so we put on our jackets and headed out. They live out in a crowded neighborhood where there is never anyone on the street. If it had been any other country on earth, I would have thought there would be a chance of something dangerous happening, but... Korea... and me in a trench coat. When we were coming back from the down pour, people literally jumped out of our way from fright because 1. 외국인s 2. Koreans seem to fear water, especially from the sky, and we were drenched, and 3. People just tend to jump a little bit when they see me...

 

We counted up baptisms in the area for the more than 6 months Elder South has been here, and 5 of 6 have been Chinese. Also, the mission president likes to come to baptisms. He has been to 1 in our area in that time. He went to the 1 solitary Korean baptism... I think he might be trying to send a message. Also, I feel bad for the branch because so many of the baptisms are Chinese, and the branch is all Korean. We're working with them to get closer to the converts, but that is another language barrier entirely...

 

Everything continues to go well. The weather is heating up a lot, and the rain is coming with increasing frequency, but things are good :)

 

Thank you for everything you do, and know that even though I didn't sound too excited on the phone, I really was happy to talk to you. Korea is getting to me. There is a grammar form to show surprise, a form for emotion, a form for annoyance... There is really no need for voice fluctuation in Korean... I think that may make it hard to come back... I really am glad to know things are all good, and I look forward to hearing how things continue to go with all of you :)

Press forward with steadfast faith in Christ.

Best wishes,

Elder Jones

Week 22 - 2 Nephi 22:2 - Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid; for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; he also has become my salvation (from dad)

Dear Jordan,

Mom was so excited to email with you back and forth. She counted the emails and came up with 122. I guess she has me beat because I am only at 22. We look forward to your call on Mother's Day. The girls are also excited. Sarah checked out a tape to learn Korean so she may try to speak a little. Please be gentle with her feelings if it doesn't sound like you hear every day. She made friends with a man (on the train) who broke his ankle. He also works for the state of Utah. He went to Korea on his mission and then came back and studied Chinese at the university. He taught Sarah a couple of words today and she was excited to share them with you. Elder McCoy Hill should have returned home today. I haven't heard anything different so I assume he is home. He will be teaching the lesson for the ward family home evening in two weeks. I found out that Sister Hales is in one of the other Korean missions so unless the boundaries change, you won't meet her.

We are fairly healthy again although mom is a little hard of hearing with her stuffed up ears. Hannah has some new medications to help her with the pain and inflammation. Robert is mostly over his cold. Ben is back home from Denver and had his birthday yesterday. Bonni and Debbi will have their birthdays next week on the 13th and 16th. Rachel mowed the lawn by herself on Saturday. The YM/YW had a teacher appreciation dinner last night and the YW had their fund raising auction last Friday. This Friday the missionaries will be showing The Testaments at the stake center with free popcorn. They are trying hard to find people to teach. They asked me to invite the Dravids so tonight I dropped by their house and invited them. The parents weren't home but the oldest daughter was so I left the invitation with her. The Dravids moved into our ward about 5 months ago. They aren't members (yet). The father is Hindu. I think I told you a little about them several emails back. Mark Hanni got married yesterday and mom and I went to the reception. Mom posted your pictures and I think some of your marathon-with-mom emails.

We have received rain this week and the temperatures have been in the 50s and 60s. Mom was checking out the temperatures in the different areas and you had the highest at about 66. She has the locations plugged into her phone.

In the leadership meeting for stake conference, Elder Nash talked about D&C 84:106. For fellowshipping/home teaching/missionary work we should invite and take those who are weak with us to edify them and us and to make them strong (speaking as if I was part of the strong). He did the example of going into the audience and inviting a person to go up to the podium with him. He then asked him to go get someone addition so that the numbers doubled with each iteration. He didn't say it but I remember hearing that the gospel is an individual event. We may hear the gospel in a group but each individual has to have his own testimony, baptism, confirmation, endowment, etc. The only time it is joint is with a marriage but even that is individually accepting the other to then become one. Also we are to become one with Christ and Heavenly Father. It doesn't mean that we become selfish because they won't become like us. We have to give up everything bad in our life to become like them. They are always inviting us and never tire of it.
It is great to have such a loving Father and older brother.

We love you, Jordan, and continually pray for you. We look forward to hearing from you. You are special and are dear to us. Keep working hard and obey the mission rules. You are and will be blessed.

Love,
Sarah, Hannah, Rachel, Bekah, dad, Mom

From Jordan (part 2) week 21

From: Jordan Stamps Jones <jsjones@myldsmail.net> Date: May 4, 2014 at 10:02:30 PM MDT To: "Sajmba2002@yahoo.com" <sajmba2002@yahoo.com> Subject: Re: Week 21 - Alma 32:21 Hope for things which are not seen, which are true Ok, a little bit of time opened up. I hope everything is going well for Bonni, Chris,  and family! I'm sure Ben is helping and having a great time, too :) I'm sad to hear  the van is going to make its final farewell while I'm gone, but I am having plenty  of time around Kia minivans now anyway. I hope everyone gets better and is able to do what they need to do. It is always a pleasure to hear from you :) Thank you all for everything and I look forward to hearing  some of you (hopefully all of you) next week! Press forward with steadfast faith in Christ. Best wishes, Elder Jones P.S. I almost forgot, CONGRATULATIONS TO KATHERINE AND MARK!!!  ...Didn't mean for that to sound like they were marrying each other, but there you go...

From Jordan Week 21

From: Jordan Stamps Jones <jsjones@myldsmail.net> Date: May 4, 2014 at 8:48:34 PM MDT To: "Sajmba2002@yahoo.com" <sajmba2002@yahoo.com> Subject: Re: Week 21 - Alma 32:21 Hope for things which are not seen, which are true Sorry to hear people have been sick! I'm glad people are getting better, though! Congrats to Jason! How enthused is he? It sounds like stake conference was really good! Was there anything that especially stuck out  to anyone? I'm glad they focused on the fundamentals, though. Everyone needs to do those things, and if we do those things we'll be able to handle everything else. The weather has been a bit out of whack over here, too. We had really hot weather last week, then a ton of rain this week, and now it is too warm for a jacket, but to cool for just a shirt.  It is a little goofy. Somehow, they still have not told me anything about calls home. I think I'll just do it next Monday (Korea) at about 12 (Korea), but if that changes, I will let you know.  Sorry about the lack of information. It is more than a little frustrating...  Oh well, it will work out in the end. Sorry about the short email, we had appointment pop up out of the blue, and I don't have much time... sorry :( Thank you for all the hellos and please tell everyone I think of them. I hope things are going well for everyone. I look forward to hearing from you next week, too. Thank you for everything. :) Press forward with steadfast faith in Christ. Much love, Elder Jones

Week 21 - Alma 32:21 Hope for things which are not seen, which are true (from Steve)

Dear Jordan,

 

Mom is getting over a bad ear infection and Robert is getting over a cold. On the brighter side, your cousin Jason Colgrove received his mission call. He is going to Saltillo, Mexico. It is below Texas in the mid part of Mexico.

 

Thank you for the pictures. Mom should post them on your blog and Facebook, if she hasn't already. Since they were sent to you and some other emails, I am guessing that those are the names of the other missionaries. Have you listed the names of the branch members in an email so that you can remember them when you come home?

 

We had stake conference on Saturday and Sunday and it was wonderful. Elder Marcus Nash of the Seventy was there and spoke to us. He said that he spoke in Korea a little while ago but I think it was before you got there. He emphasized that we need to continue to pray, fast, read the scriptures, and have regular family home evenings. You know, the basics that everyone needs to do and that you teach every day. The gospel is simple if you let it be.

 

Hannah and mom also got to see the play War Horse since Robert wasn't feeling well enough to go and I had the leadership meeting for stake conference. They enjoyed it and were amazed at the engineering of the horses. Actors made all of the movements.

 

Ben is in Colorado with Bonni. He is still looking for jobs and he is helping with the kids. Bonni is hoping that either Hannah or Rachel will go this summer to help. Chris still is scheduled to come home by the end of the year.

 

We will probably donate the van to one of the car donation places and get a tax write off. McCoy  Hill is scheduled to come home from his mission next week. Katherine Johnson is getting married in June. Mark Hanni gets married next week.

 

Please let us know if you can only call on Mother's Day or if you can Skype or group Skype. Uncle Steve did it when Reilly opened his mission call. Let us know and we will give you all of the information to do it.

 

Our weather has been crazy. Two weeks ago we were in the 80's, last week we almost had snow on the ground, and this week it is Spring with low 60's. We have had some good rain but we are still in a drought. There is snow in the mountains which is a good sign.

 

Keep up the great work. You look wonderful in the pictures. Keep learning the languages. Cal Smith said to tell you Hi and that he knew that you would do well with languages. Brother Hecker enjoyed the correspondence.

 

We love you. We continue to pray for you and the other missionaries. We look forward to hearing from you soon. Pun intended.

 

Mom, Sarah, Hannah, Rachel, Bekah, dad

Photos from April 2014 branch baptism

Mother's Day call setup in real time!

On Apr 27, 2014, at 9:21 PM, Jordan Stamps Jones <jsjones@myldsmail.net> wrote:

May 11th is Mother's Day.  Please when you email your family today, find out the best time of day to make your phone call home on Mother's Day.

Sister Lynda Jensen

Mission Secretary 

Korea Seoul Mission

Office - 02-734-3653  Ext. 2

Cell - 010-9553-3794

Oh! I forgot! When should I call on Mother's Day? They just sent out the message asking.

Dear Jordan,

That sounds great!

If you will call mom's cell 1-801-891-7489 about this same time on your 11th, we will be waiting for the call, which we will receive about 9 pm on the 10th. If you have access to Skype or another video chat we will try to facilitate that as well. Does that work for you calling on Sunday the 11th about this time?

9:15p I will let them know and hopefully it works out. I have no idea how they are doing this... Thank you for replying quickly!

9:32p I think it will work, but I don't think we'll know for sure until next week... sorry....

9:37p Thank you for being available! I look forward to getting the news to you next week!

Press forward with steadfast faith in Christ.

Best wishes,

Elder Jones