Email Recived May 26, 2010

Um. Well, before, we'd been having 60 and 70 degree days. No biggie. Lots of rain and kind of humid.  Yeah. That all changed Friday.

Last zone conference, Hermana Doll told us that we're allowed to ditch our knee-highs if the weather gets over 80. Well, needless to say, the weather obliged by raining a lot, and then jumping up to 95. Oh yeah, and it didn't stop raining. Kept drizzling on and off.. Which did not mean that there was no sun, 'cause there was. Yeah, and we had no appointments that day. Knocking. Yea verily. ick. Especially as my wardrobe is varying shades of DARK.

Anyone brave enough to plow through my boxes might see if they can find some lighter clothes for me. Other than that, I'm ok. EXCEPT SEND ME A FAMILY PICTUIRE.

This week was good. Three lessons in particular stand out:

We passed by one of our hard to find, but awesome investigators. She was eating with her family, so her husband, who we had never met, told us to come back later. We did, and he almost didn't let us in. We talked a bit, circumnavigating the plan of salvation while getting to know him (vaguely Christian) and his mom (extremely catholic.) He came to the conclusion that we're awesome, and apologized for feeling brusque with us. The mom called us "heathens," and then threatened to sic the priest on her son. That said, she also thought we were sweet girls, and called down a few saints to bless us.

Later that week, we came back and taught our investigator the plan of salvation, this time hitting up all the points in order, and with visuals. at the end, she pointed to the celestial kingdom, and asked, "How do I get there?" After a few stunned moments, we gave the 5 second version of the 1st principles and ordinances, and promised to come back and teach her more about it.

We finally got in with one couple we'd been looking to teach. (Remember killer bunnies? that's the family.) We also got to bring Presidente Urrutia and his wife. We had a great lesson with them, and they're both really enthusiastic about the idea of modern prophets. Problem is, she's hard to get a hold of, because she spends most of her free time at her mom's, drinking. It's kindof a reverse on what we usually encounter...

One couple is doing really well. We had to cancel one appointment with them, but we were only able to leave a message on the answering machine. Well, later this week, we called back to re-schedule. The husband answers, and begins by saying, "We realty appreciate what you do, and know you always have a home here," which general is the prelude to getting dropped. Hermana Padilla grimaces, because we had such hope for them. Then he says, "Please don't abandon us." Turns out the message had somehow gotten lost. we assured him that we weren't abandoning him, and that we wanted to set another appointment as soon as possible.

My mission experience is, right now, unremarkable. I don't have much to say. As I've said before, in Carpentersville, we're lucky if we see someone more than twice (and most lesson 1s are unremarkable) Knocking is out here quite tame. My spiritual experiences mainly consist of me getting the wrong address for a reference, and being able to help someone with some issue... and then never seeing them again.

Most of which is no longer an issue, as I AM NO LONGER IN CARPENTERSVILLE.

Transfers were this week.  I am now in the Loop. I get to bike full time.  Needless to say, I'm feeling a little.  I've only been here for like a half hour, so there's nothing to report.

I'm writing to Jemile. She won't go inactive as long as I'm here. ^_^

I love and miss you all. Take some time to study the conference Ensign, because it was AWESOME.

Sincerely,

Hermana Maren Jones.

Mail Received May 19, 2010

This week was sooo much better.

We've found two families who are very interested, and are keeping commitments. We've been thrilled to teach them, and are hoping they'll come to church sometime soon. The gentleman who we were helping to stop smoking has been dropped. He's kind of an eternal investigator, and he'd been dishonest about the program. Hermana Padilla was heartbroken; because we'd been planning to get him a baptismal date by the time the week was out. I felt really bad too. We were sure the program was working.

That said, we're helping to teach people a lot of English. It's lots of fun, and if enough people get interested, we hope to start classes up at the church building.

We're having fun with our members. We got a case study last week with a lot of "little things" we can do to boost member activity. We're seeing results, and hope that things in the branch pick up soon!

We are, to our great surprise, teaching two Jehovah’s Witnesses right now. (They're very strong in the area, and we often bump into each other tracting.) We're hoping to get them interested in the idea of modern revelation, and get them both to come to church.

I received a letter From Erika. She's thinking of putting in her papers for a mission. I say she should go for it!!!

We had to take Harvey car of DOOM in for an oil change this week. it was a long bit of paperwork, and a long time sitting in the waiting room.

Elder Nielson broke his pinky playing soccer this week. No big deal, right? Guess not. He went in for surgery Tuesday and is now on Vicadin. I don't know WHY there were so many hullabaloos over a broken finger (I've never seen worse than a full-hand cast) but they put pins in and everything. I hope to figure out why soon, because I almost think his doctor is over reacting.
Hope all is well on the home front. Love and miss you all. Sorry this isn't longer, but I'm feeling rather ditzy this afternoon.

Sincerely, Hermana Maren Jones

Email received May 12, 2010

I feel kind of like the episode "Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day," in the part where the Hundred Acre Wood was all flooded. C-ville is distinctly wet, and rather cold. I'm thinking of putting the liner back in my coat.

As requested, I’m including some details about my companion.

Hermana Padilla (Pah-di-ya) is from Leon, Mexico, but her family is currently living in the driest part of California. She's fairly small, and a little quiet, which is not at all indicative of her personality: her frustrated refrain is often "I'm gonna punch him!" She is very much an American, although she looks very Spanish (European). This semblance confuses most of the Hispanic population, because they think she's just another gringa, (which I also think frustrates her a little.) We get along well, although neither of us does very well in the mornings, with the end result that we sleep in once in a while (although we never miss study.)

We've gotten a copy of the "stop smoking lesson," which is a set up for a week-long, 15 step program. We're using it with one investigator, and we think that if we can get him through the next two days, we'll get him baptized. FINALY.

Our investigator list is growing. We had a brief dry run for mother’s day, but we're thinking things will pick up again shortly.

Work, work, work. That’s what's up.

Chicago was Ok. The trip was poorly planned, and while we saw several interesting things, I was kind of bored. Also a lot of the things we had planed fell through - a lot of things that used to be free aren't anymore. Still, I have some nice pictures. Walking around the city just isn't exciting for me, but everyone else had fun, so I guess everything's ok.

I'm going to tell you a little about our bold, fearless District Tyrant (so he calls himself) Elder Nielson. He’s a class A geek, which means we get along very well. To give a summary of his personality, on our trip to Chicago, I spotted for him two books by the same author, named respectively "How to create a robot army" and "How to survive a robot uprising." Elder Nielson was thrilled, and bought them both to send ahead. Originally in the English program, he was 6 months in when they moved him to the Spanish program. They warned him one transfer ahead of time. Yes, he had to learn Spanish, in the field, in one transfer. Make the MTC look like a piece of cake. When we see each other, we spend the better part of the time making bad geek jokes that go over everyone else's head:

"What did the Zone leaders get for contacts this month?"

"Over 9000!!!"

"What, 9000?!?"

Congratulations to anyone who actually gets that.

To my chagrin, he has brought his Magic the Gathering cards with him. Not kosher. Still it'd be fun to play one day.

I'm sorry this letter is so little about me, but I hope you like it.

Love you all and miss you. Serving as best I can, and trying to get lost in the work.

Hermana Maren Jones

PS: no one has told me what HMM&S stands for....

Email Received May 5, 2010

So things are finally looking up.

We've been mixing it up, tracting, and while we're not getting better results, they certainly are more interesting. We’ve been getting some relay positive feedback, and people are starting to smile at us and wave, I hope that's a result of the fact that I make it a point to smile and wave ALL the time.

I'm sorry my letters have been so short. The fact of the matter is, our investigator pool has been hovering around 4 for a long time. We’ve not taught anyone for more than three weeks at a time all this past transfer. We're having fun teaching, but we’ve got nothing solid. This week will be different, I hope.

In an interesting bit of contacting, we've discovered a group of people who are fairly well aquatinted with the bible: ex-cons. in general, I find that they have a greater willingness to change, and are more introspective. While ultimately not many are interested, most are willing to talk to us, and are curious. I am pleasantly surprised, but I guess I shouldn't be. I already know from personal experience that a lot of people with a fierce aspect are actually very nice.

I've been having TV problems recently. I see or hear something and I think, oh I wish I could watch that right now. I've also been casually exposed to enough novellas that I can identify the characters. Not good. I do not like novellas. I've seen too many Hispanics who really think that's how life is. They are really addicting too.

Right now, I'm in the Apple store in Chicago (missionaries in the city do their e-mails here.) We're here to have some fun today. We won’t get in trouble, don't worry. I'll tell you about it next week.

Brief note: I have no idea where my Stone is. It's not boxed up, though. Check my computer drawers. No drivers needed.

I appreciate the effort to get me a new player, but keep in mind that I can't install drivers. That’s part of the reason I liked my old one: it was recognized as just a regular thumb drive. if you insist on getting me a new one, I'd prefer to stick with the creative brand. They’ve done well for us. Also, speakers included are nice, but an exterior speaker set would be just fine by me. Also consider the power problem.

I love and miss you all. I got mommy's little package, but it was open on arrival. All that was inside was the letter and the keychain that said "HMM&S." (What is that supposed to mean anyway?)

OH! Did Rhawnie get her letter?

Email Received April 28, 2010

I feel thoroughly ignored. I mean, I expect to beat Myrddun about the ears every week and get nothing back, but really?

I want a family picture, at some time. One I can put on my wall.

I got the following in an email:

Attending the Temple:  President Robinson of the Chicago Temple says that he very much appreciates the attendance by our missionaries.  You may not be aware that the temple does not have a laundry facility like many other temples.  This means that temple patrons need to bring their own temple clothing.  Elders should bring their white pants, tie, belt, and socks with them when they go to the temple. The temple will provide them with slippers and sacred clothing.  Sisters should bring as much white clothing as possible.  Whatever they don’t have will be provided by the temple.

Appears, contrary to previous instruction, that I need my temple things, or at least my dress and stuff. It'd probably be easiest to send the whole bag...

This week's been really long. I'm not sure what's up but no one is keeping appointments. we've been doing a lot of knocking (actually not that bad, now that the weather is nice) with some fun contacts going on.

We've been cut miles, and right now, it seems like we might need to be using bikes part of the time. (I've charged about 40 dollars of accessories to my personal card.) So, we've been looking to get our hands on a pair of bikes. Hermana Padilla has one, but the assistants have somehow lost the seat, and it'll take them a while to get it to us anyway. One of the brothers is lending us one, and we've been gifted a couple of Junkers by one of our investigators, on of which is in very good condition, actually. We’re actually looking forward to this...

So, in the midst of this, we had an exciting evening. After a fantastic cita with Maria (1 of like 50 that we know by the name,) we're on our way out the door when her husband hurriedly comes up and says he needs a "huge favor." One of their household (which is entirely illegal) was caught speeding. Since he had no license, the car was impounded. They needed someone with a valid license to go get the car, and then to dive it back to them. They also needed to pay the $500 fee.

Well, like all mythical creatures, missionaries have certain rules, among them are three things we can't help with:

1) Rides and driving
2) Money
3) Childcare

We also can't come in unless invited. No, we do not have fangs.

Well, we put them in touch with a few local members, and did our best to explain our limitations.

With that out of our way, we then proceed to get a call that Hermana Segura's daughter has chicken pox. Dinner is out.

We've got a few minutes, so we decide to go home and eat real quickly before the next appointment.

On our door is a notice. The apartment company is changing its parking policy, and we need to get the new placards ASAP. The catch: the lease holder is the only one who can pick them up. We're not the leaseholder. The Church is.

We call the mission office. They want to see the notice. We go to the library to make a copy.

Pulling out of the parking lot, I see that the "maintenance required" light is on. I mention it, but we ignore it.

Moving on to our next appointment, we get a call from a member who was supposed to help us. He can't make it. Which is fine, because we get there, and the gentleman in question is out of the house.

We go home, I start heating some chicken nuggets when our investigator calls asking us if we need some bikes. Well of course we do. We go look at them.

It's dark out, and the bikes are chained together. He's lost the Kay to the lock, so he has to saw through the chain. We help, and no one is hurt in the process. We try the bikes out: one is junk the other isn't. Still we decide to take them both.

We spend an hour trying to figure out how to get the bike rack onto the car, and another 15 minutes getting the bikes onto the rack.

We go home, clean up the bikes, and I eat my (now cold) chicken nuggets. Elder Nielson calls and asks us if we're going to the temple. We don't know, because we're so tight on miles right now... we tell him about the bike thing, and he offers to help, which induces a half-hour game of phone tag.

All this between 6:30 and 9:00 pm.

We planned and went to bed.

That’s all on my side. I hope that all is well with you. Caedy gets kudos for wrting me.

Miss you.

Maren.

Email Received April 21, 2010

It seems this week I am a witch.

The theme kinda started when we passed by an ivestigator. Returning to our car, we hear a little girl scream:

"Maaaa!"

"Que?"

"Look, Brujas! (witches!) Just like I told you!"

Hermana and I busted out laughing, of course. We’re not sure why the little girl thought that. I don't wear that much black.

Then in another house, we talked to a college girl, who had gotten hooked on the whole "Sacrifice chickens in the basement/many wives" rumors. we patiently explained that we did not do multiple marriages, that we did not practice witchcraft of any kind.

Then, just yesterday, I was reading to one of the young girls in our ward (I’ll talk more about her in a bit), a version of sleeping beauty. We got to the part with the witch, and I of course, did the evil cackling voice. She looked at me very seriously, and said, "You're really scary." she then made me promise not to do it again.

With those high points out of the way things are looking up. We have a small teaching pool, (as opposed to two investigators) and we've baptismal hopes for several of them. We've been building our relationships with our members, and are hoping to get some good referrals soon.

That said, several of our strongest members are very ill. Two of the sisters are having very tough pregnancies, and several of the older sister are having health problems as well. This piles on top of the tough job climate to make things tough.

One of the families the hardest hit is the Ornelas family. The mother is having a hard pregnancy, the grandmother has been in and out of the hospital, and the daughter, 6-year-old Yanira, is starting another round of chemotherapy.

Yanira is a very special little girl, who was first diagnosed with histiocytosis (sp) when she was three. She's sweet and patient, and has become a very good friend of mine. I ask that you mention her in your prayers.

Hope all's well on the home front, since nobody's written me yet.

Sincerely,

Maren Jones

Email Received April 14, 2010

Time flies when you're having fun. Yesterday was the first realy full day we've had in a long time.

Things are still rocky out here. Leadership changes are in the works for the branch, and one of the core families has got some severe health issues, so the branch is wobbly right now. That said, lots of less actives are coming back, and several of the sisters are expecting fairly soon.

Our district got rocked this week (transfers are today). They shut down one area and took away two cars. That means the English and Spanish elders are splitting a car (car one day, bike another), which could have serious effects on the food schedule. Also means the English elders are covering both of our areas.

Not much else going on. People are building a lot of potential.

We've come up with a little lesson plan that's interesting, and we've been using it with members and nonmembers alike.

1)    Review of the 10 commandments (Moses for investigators, Abinadai for members), stopping for extra emphasis on "Keep the Sabbath day, Honor your mother and father, do not commit adultery."

2)    Jesus' summary: "Love the lord thy God... Love thy neighbor as thyself. On this hang all the law and the prophets."

3)    Explanation of charity, using Paul and (oddly enough) Robert Heinlein: "Love is a condition when the happiness of someone else is essential to your own."

All of this, especially Heinlein's quote, really gets them thinking, and we've had some fun results!

Love you all, praying for you, and trying to serve with all my HMM&S. (ooooh, I should get that on a ring or keycahin, or something.)

Sincerely

La Hermana Jones.