Email Received January 26, 2010, A Little Growing Up

So, time for a little growing-up story.

No matter what you do, after a certain period of time, you fall into habits. I've been out a year, and I admit, I had developed some unhealthy missionary habits. We had a zone meeting on the new Standards of Excellence. I admit, I felt rocky about it, but I swallowed it and said, without much thought, it's got to be possible, so let's see what I can do.

Well, then I got sick, as you recall.

Getting back into the work on Wednesday evening, I just couldn't seem to find my rhythm. Planning for a lesson that night, I saw in a moment good things to share, but when I got down to it, I couldn't even explain my ideas to my companion. So I gave up, and agreed with her ideas instead, even though I didn't particularly care for them, especially as she wanted to give an exceedingly short lesson to a family we were hoping to baptize this month. (More on them later.) She saw I was frustrated, and felt like I was just spitefully caving. I pointed out that she had several good arguments for why she wanted to do what she did (talking about how PMG says we should keep lessons down to 30-40 minutes, and leave with the spirit following us out the door) and that I couldn't even put my ideas into words, even though I felt that they were excellent. I was upset, but I was swallowing my pride and letting her take the lead, because I really couldn't offer any argument. Well, things kind of devolved from there, her upset because she felt we weren't planning as a companionship, me still trying to swallow my pride, just wanting to move on, and hoping that a full day working would help me feel better again. We didn't really fight, but we were both frustrated.

The next day was weekly planning. I still didn't feel particularly with it, and being on the couch for three days had made me homesick. I mechanically led the process of setting numbers and planning for our investigators. For some reason, we ran out of time, and had to wait until Saturday to finish.

We start planning again Saturday after I felt a little better, and Hermana asks me a very important question.

"Why don't we ever reach any of our goals?"

I was a little stunned. "What do you mean?"

"Look at our member-present goals - we set for three every week. We discuss who we can bring to each lesson, and plan to have twice that many, but I've only had 1 member-present lesson my whole mission. And look at our contacts - we don't get anywhere near our numbers. We just set contacting as something to do we can't find anything better. We barely get our less-active lessons, and we haven't reached out lessons with supers goal in weeks." she went on to explain how she was studying goal planning in PMG, and how she thought we needed to seriously re-evaluate what we were doing, not only in planning, but in our efforts during the week, and why.

So, I guess I'm a prideful person. I got mad, and felt she was attacking everything I had learned on my mission to that point. But there are two huge things I've learned in my mission:

1. When two people are not on the same page, ask questions before you speak your opinion.
2. If my companion says something that makes me feel bad, there's a good chance there's something to what she's saying.

So, rather than defend myself I swallowed my pride, again, and asked her to explain what and why she thought the way she did. She saw I was upset, so she was hesitant to explain, but I insisted. So she laid out a logical, well thought out, and totally founded argument, and by the time she was done... I felt absolutely awful. Not because I disagreed, but because I couldn't help but agree. I had been doing an absolutely horrendous job planning of late, and I had been had definitely not been striving to reach my goals. I mean, I had felt like I was struggling a little in that department since the beginning of the holiday season, but her words really shocked me and made me realize how far off I was. It was a full-fledged call to repentance, and it hit me like a ton of bricks.

Of course, I have no poker face. She starts getting upset because I'm upset. We have a little bit of a breakdown together, (does that happen with elders?) and we move on, setting better goals, and resolving to be more diligent and consecrated. It was awful. I still feel bad about how casual I had gotten with the work. I'm repenting hard, and hoping I can relay be better.

So, I said I would talk about Ruben and Rosa. We found them around Christmas, and we were thrilled. They were so prepared, and so enthusiastic. But Ruben has been out of work for months. He went down to Mexico to make an attempt to sell their house down there, to no avail. We had a couple more lessons with them, and then he missed one. While not unusual, it was unexpected, because they have never missed a lesson before. (Tangent) I think it has to do with the fact that we general teach lesser- educated migrants, but flaking out on lessons is an everyday occurrence. And getting both the investigator and the member to the lesson at the same time is nigh impossible.(/endtangent)

Well, two days later, they call us, with the standard, "We're super busy, we don't want you to come over because we're never home" sort of drop. We were heartbroken. Usually when we get dropped, we feel OK, because they don't really understand some point or another. Typically, they just decide they're happy where they are and aren't interested in learning a new religion, not really understanding the apostasy or the restoration. (Teaching the idea of authority takes weeks of repetition of the ideas involved most of the time. the false doctrine that 'all churches are true and good because they all worship the same god' is too soundly entrenched.) That was not the case with Ruben. He knew exactly what we were about. He knew exactly what the claim to a modern prophet meant, and agonized over it. He had now answer yet (Still had not asked. The idea of asking a QUESTION to god is a foreign as divine authority.) But he knew it was huge, one way or the other. So when we dropped us, we felt awful. He knew too much. If he didn't make the change here, his chances in the spirit world were slim to none.

Well THEN he called us back again, from some random number in Chicago. He says he's reading the Book of Mormon, but he's looking for work. He doesn't know when he'll be back, but he'll call when he is, or on the off chance they decide to move to the city. He calls two other times to talk to us, and we encourage him as best we can. Hope things go well! Maybe he'll find someone to teach him in the city.

Well, that's my novella. Love you all. Keep being amazing.

Hermana Maren Jones.

Email Received January 19, 2011

Well, just when I was finally getting better, Sunday night/Monday morning, I got super, super sick. I emptied my whole digestive tract in about 3 hours between midnight and 3 AM. Needless to say, I think that was the worst night of my life. I was so incredibly sick, and a little scared, so we finally ended up calling Sister Doll about 1:30. (My companion did. I was busy in the bathroom.) Sister Doll just said I had a really bad flu bug, and I just had to let it run its course. I couldn't take any medicine, of course, and I was so thirsty, but couldn't drink. So I basically just lay on the couch all night (morning) long, curled around my stomach. The next day I ate very little, and yesterday, a little more. Just me, the couch, and my scriptures... and let me tell you, when your brain is mush, the parable of the olive branches is just not going to cut it. I was bored out of my mind, drifting in and out of sleep, with an intelligence score of about 7 not counting situational modifiers. (D&Drs should get that).

I sent a letter to Bishop Lott a while back. Hope he got it. How goes the stake reorganization, by the way?

Um, afraid not much else has happened. That's what happens when you're bed-ridden for 48 hours.
If you could put a gentle petition for letters in the blog, I'd appreciate it. I think everyone thinks they're in touch with me because they know what's happening in my life.

Since I have few minutes left, I thought I would write second e-mail detailing some of the things I've learned about my companion.

Hermana Lockwood is, at 5'8", the shortest in her family. She an outdoor enthusiast, and watches almost no TV. (Outside the mission, of course. We don't watch any here.) She enjoys weekend long backpacking trips, mountain climbing, and hiking, but not so much swimming. She claims to have superior genes (to which the elders always reply, "We’re not allowed to wear jeans in the mission,") and since she has not caught anything I have, I believe her. she has webbed toes, and is in awe of how wearing a missionary name tag is somehow liberating (the phrase, "we're missionaries; we do whatever we want" has been our theme this week, refereeing to the fact that we can do a lot of bizarre things that 'normal people' would never consider) and instantly adds +4 coolness, and allows us to use ugly skirts and ties to add to our coolness score, rather than detract. She studied Spanish for 5 years before the mission, but is having fun learning that there is a lot you quite simply don’t use in a real conversation. ("Baloncesto," despite what the teachers think, is not equivalent to "basketball.") She's perky, funny, and geeky, (her boyfriend is, absolutely no joke, an electrical engineer,) and we have a lot of fun together.

On a side note, I don't know if I've mentioned this, but knitting is a huge thing among the elders out here. I mean, HUGE. They get together and they're all talking like "circular needles, front stitch, yarn gauge, cable knit, PURL!" I've seen some pretty AMAZING beanies out here, and knitted ties are all the rage. Knitted camera cases are common too, and I've seen a few scripture bags that are knitted too. We all think its Hilarious.

Lots of Love,

Maren.

Email Received January 12, 2011 "For Health and Strength and Daily Food, we praise thy name O Lord."

So, I'm feeling much better. I just have lingering cough that causes trouble sometimes. And It feels so good to be out and about and teaching again. Loosing you voice is frustrating when you job is talking to people all day long.

Even though we've been inside all the time (we've contacted a grand total of 3 people in the past two weeks) we feel like we're making huge progress. We're seeing our investigators often, even if we can't seem to get lessons in. We' have 4 new investigators in the past 5 days. (Don't look at me, I don't know where they came from) We've tracked down some formers as well. I'm so thrilled to be working again, and our teaching pool is a baker’s dozen, full sized, and full of potential.

I might have at some point mentioned that the English sisters and us (we call each other "the sisters' and "the hermanas", in case I get confused) built a snowman a while back. (Pictures will get to you at some point.) But the snow didn’t roll up like normal, so we ended up making a pile and packing it into the shape we wanted. In fact, the snow here is so much like that, that sister Murphy, who is from California, is convinced that when we talk about rolling up a snowball, we're making a joke, and that rolling a snowball doesn't work at all - It's something we made up. Well it snowed yesterday, so we're the right kind of snow, so we can show her how to make a snowball the "right way."

In other news, Hermana Lockwood and I have come to the conclusion that we don't know how to shop... or eat, for that matter. Any and all suggestions for missionary recipies and shopping hints are welcome. That said, all in all, we're better off than the Sisters or the Elders of our district, because they have been this whole week without a fridge. Wish them luck.

Love you all, miss you all, and I think I'll be very happy to come home.

Sincerely,

Hermana Maren Jones.

Email Received January 5, 2011

So, this week has been less than spectacular for me. Although I'm very ill, we've gone out and worked almost every day. Started New Years Eve, and has carried on. I think the general issue is I'm not resting like I should. My voice is basically gone (which makes lessons very interesting) and I probably would have been fine by Tuesday, except we had to take the car in to get it fixed, which took forever, so we ended up (Myself, my companion, and the English Sisters, who also had to get their car fixed) wandering around Crystal Lake in the freezing cold all day, looking for somewhere to sit down and study. Needless to say, when we were all done at 5 PM, I went home and to bed. Yesterday I was feeling better, but last night, I spent coughing all night long. If I don't feel better tomorrow, I'm going to call Sister Doll and get to the doctor.

The punch line to all this is that I'm not running a fever. My average temperature is 97.8-98.0, at least with my current thermometer. All this week I've been running 96.2-96.8, and that's when I haven't taken Tylenol all night long. Suggestions welcome.

We had an interesting lesson the other day. It was at the end of the day, and I being sick, was pretty much out of it. We were wrapping up a plan-of-salvation lesson, when my companion, out of the blue, asks this lady to be baptized. Well, I start paying real close attention. The investigator says yes immediately, and we begin to promise her blessings.  Her face clouds over a little bit as we go along, and she finally says, "Wait, I've already been baptized. Is this going to be OK?" We're out of time, but we tell her it is, and we will explain more of the hows and whys of baptism the next time. (We were already planning to give a lesson 3, which is the 1st principles and ordinances.) She still is unsure, but I found it interesting that, when all she was doing was following the spirit, she said yes, but the moment she began to think about everything else. She doubted. I still think she'll make it. We've just got to get the idea of apostasy through to her in a real way.

that's all here. Love you. Miss you. Wish you the best.

Hermana Maren Jones

Email Received December 29, 2010

I was so thrilled to talk to evermore for Christmas, and I was happy the gifts got there in time. I am glad you all liked them.

I'm not sure what there is to say. Not much has happened since Christmas.

Loved all the gifts I got. Thank you so much for the pencils. I tried them our right away. And the paper you gave me makes my frog pattern come out looking like poison-dart frogs. Very cool.

As I mentioned the weather here is very cold. The fun part is, how cold it is has little to do with what the thermometer says. Let me give you a sample scale:

1. 45-38 Feels cold, but not unpleasant. Days are likely to be damp from mist or rain, possibly foggy.
2. 38-32 - Cold. Likely to snow.
3. 32-25 - Ridiculously cold! I mean, like, throw on 7 layers, icicles in your nose cold! Even worse if it snows! Moisture in the air is killer!
4. 25-12 - Cold, but way better than 32-25. The moisture freezes out of the air, so you can be fine with your regular winter stuff, although at the low end your face gets cold and tingly. Will not snow, and clear skies.
5. 12 and lower - Really cold, good idea to try and stay inside.

Also common around here is a type of freezing fog I've never seen before. It only happens at night when the temperature drops rapidly from about 22 to 12. Although, the fog lasts several hours. The fog does not cover things in ice, as you might expect, but instead freezes and keeps hanging in the air. (At least, I think that's what happening.) The result is a fine mist that sparkles brightly as it floats around. And I as you know, suffer from a bad case of SOS (shiny object syndrome.) It's distracting as all get out when I'm driving.

No one came to church this Sunday. I mean no one. It was really kind of sad. I ended up leading relief society, but whatever.

Um. Really don't know what to say more. Hope you New Year is bright.

Email from December 22, 2010

Well Hermana Lockwood wrapped all my presents. It is a tradition in her family to try and make presents as unidentifiable as possible, so I've been having fun trying to guess. It was funny because she told me when I could come look, and just looking, I said, "Well one of those little ones is a matchbox car." she immediately goes into panic, saying, "Oh man, where did I put it?" and starts looking around frantically. I see the little car on the floor first, unwrapped, and forgotten. she insists on wrapping it anyway.

Since then, she has forbidden me to feel any of my presents. Once I identified the chocolate orange and the boxes of Pocky, she then forbade me even to look at them. It has become a game in the evenings when we're writing in our journals for me to peek and try to figure out what is in the packages before she stops me.

I will be calling Christmas night, probably at 8:00, my time (which I believe is 6:00 pacific time), in accordance with what Daddy told me. I hope that does not clash with plans you may have had to go see Grandma. I will be calling the house number (509.545.5129) since I don't remember any of the cell phone numbers. If you want me to call another number or need me to call another time, you'll have to call the office and let them know.

We had the great opportunity to do a service activity this week. While knocking, a woman had asked us if we could help her sister for Christmas. She said that they had no work and no money, and would not have Christmas. She had called several churches the area and all had told her that "the lists are closed." We said we would think of what we could do to help. We talked to the relief society, and expected perhaps one dinner, and one by toy and one girl toy.  Well, we got a HUGE basket of food, and 75 dollars in wall-mart gift cards for toys. (Our additions consisted of a "Joy to the World" DVD and a Book of Mormon.) Holy Cow!!! The family was so thrilled, and surprised, and we just felt happy. We don't know if we'll ever see them again, but we hope they felt the love of Christ through us.

Sill hasn’t mailed the package. Sorry. Will do today.

Love,

Hermana Maren Jones.

Email from Maren, December 15, 2010

First off, some notes from President Doll:

Christmas Phone Calls:  You’re all allowed to make calls on that day using your mission cell phone as long as you adhere to the Missionary Handbook:  You may call your parents and the call should not be longer than 40 minutes. (Maren's Note: also, as minutes are free after 7PM, we are encouraged to wait until after that.) No calls to friends, girl/boyfriends, or other family unless you have permission from the mission president. No international calls should be made from the mission cell phones.  However, you may receive an international call if your parents are outside of the U.S.  You may call on either December 25th or December 26th. We’ll be checking the phone logs to be sure calls are made according to these guidelines.

Christmas Activities: Christmas Eve and Christmas Day are wonderful times to share the joy of Christ and His gospel.  Look for innovative ways to share the joy of Christmas – singing on doorsteps, shoveling snow, sharing “Joy to the World,” visiting the aged and the lonely or a nursing home, baptize someone.  Missionaries may accept invitations to a member’s home for a meal, but you should not spend more than two hours at the home.

Right now, It's looking like I'll only have a little over a half hour to talk to everyone, since I don't really know of any members willing to let us use their phone. Do you want me to call Christmas or Christmas Eve?

My presents will probably be coming late, and it's going to be smaller this year. I'm doing a little Indian gifting, as many of them are things I picked up from members and investigators, or things I've had for a while that I think would find more use at home. Mommy and daddy get to share what will probably be the oddest thing you'd get from a missionary, but I think you'll like it.

I re-read some of my Christmas e-mails from last year, and I think I can see the growth that Father was pointing to. On the other hand, I'm not sure If I have matured, or if I just got better at hiding the fact that I'm still a silly little girl.

Christmas zone conference was fun. By sheer luck, I was the first to receive my Christmas stuff (the box DID make it). Since you wrapped all my stuff last year, I assumed it would be wrapped again, but My companion suggested I be more careful. In fact, since we had the English sisters at the apartment, we did this thing where we took turns opening each other’s boxes to see if the contents were wrapped.

One sister in our zone, Sister Falikakala, got seven boxes. She had a hard time getting everything home.

I really don't have much else to say. I'm looking forward to calling of Christmas.

Love, Maren.

Weekly Letter from President Doll to His Missionaries

Maren forwarded this, calling it "Awesome!"  I think it is very good too.  It makes me appreciate how lucky Maren has been in getting the Mission President she has. -  Ty

The Mighty God

Many times during the Christmas season we hear the lament that Christ has been taken out of Christmas.  Indeed, much of the celebration of the birth of the Savior has been lost amongst commercialism and gift giving.  But, perhaps more troubling is how Christ himself has been diminished in the eyes of many, including those professing a belief in God and Jesus Christ.  Too often he is relegated to the position of teacher, philosopher, leader of a movement, or martyr.  We, of course, know better.  He is and was much more than this.

King Benjamin and other prophets foretold the coming of the Messiah, describing his role as the Son of God and the Savior of the world.  But, they also knew he would be diminished and rejected by many.

“And he shall cast out devils, or the evil spirits which dwell in the hearts of the children of men. And lo, he shall suffer temptations, and pain of body, hunger, thirst, and fatigue, even more than man can suffer, except it be unto death; for behold, blood cometh from every pore, so great shall be his anguish for the wickedness and the abominations of his people. And he shall be called Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of heaven and earth, the Creator of all things from the beginning; and his mother shall be called Mary. And lo, he cometh unto his own, that salvation might come unto the children of men even through faith on his name; and even after all this they shall consider him a man, and say that he hath a devil, and shall scourge him, and shall crucify him.” (Mosiah 3:6-9)

A favorite quote of mine comes from the author and philosopher C.S. Lewis:

“I am trying to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: "I am ready to accept Jesus as the great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God." That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic … else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice.  Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”  (C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity)

That is how we should feel about and teach about Christ.  There is no middle ground.  He either was and is all that he proclaimed to be or he was a madman.  We either believe everything about Christ or accept nothing.  And, further, we either accept all of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ or we accept none.  There is no middle ground.  That has not been left open to us.

What a thrill it is to hear and contemplate the titles of the Savior as proclaimed by the prophet Isaiah as he foretold His coming to earth.

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6)

Let us all have deep love in our hearts for the mighty God who is Jesus Christ.

Your fellow servant in Christ, President Doll

Email Received December 8, 2010

Editor's Note:  I need to make a quick comment on this communication from Maren.  She references a letter I sent telling her how proud I was of her and that I could see profound changes in her.  She starts out arguing, for most of the letter,  that she hasn't changed much and is not a very good missionary.  She then ends by disproving all she said before this.  All I could do was laugh.  How little we see the changes the spirit works on us.  How terribly proud I am of her! -- Ty

OK, so my dad wrote something interesting last week: "I was proud ... (of) your desire to just get in and do the work.  That is a change in you that I'm very proud to hear about.  In fact, I'm just proud of all the changes that have happened to you and the maturity and commitment I can see in your life."

Ok, to be honest, I try to sound pretty suave and self controlled in my letters. Not that I'm dishonest, I just leave out the most annoying details.

I'm not that great of a missionary. I hate waking up at 6:30 AM, and I don't, if I haven't slept well. I struggle to force myself to study the language every day, and our companionship studies are not very focused at all - we talk about the work most of the time, but rarely what we planned to talk about. When we do, our conversations are kind of dry.

And I really do not like knocking. We plan it out, modify our approach, but when the moment comes to actually get out of the car and knock, I feel absolutely sick. I have to pray every single time for the help to make that simple act of will to just get out of the car and do it. We see miracles, and it's not actually that bad once we get started, but I feel awful at the start of every session. if I don't watch myself, I'll make stupid excuses not to do it, or to end early, or whatever. And when it gets down to 7:00 in the evening, I really struggle to keep going, because, really, no one wants you on their porch at 7 PM. (BTW, I'm not sure how or why, but by 4:30 PM, it's fully dark out here.)

Most of the time, I'm pretty sure that if I didn't have a companion, I wouldn't get much done. I know... and I'm working on it, and I've improved somewhat, but I'm still pretty much the lazy me I was before. Ok, maybe not the same lazy me: a wiser, more experienced, but still lazy me.

Don't get me wrong: I am working hard, but I could be working a whole lot harder, and every day I try a little more to reach that level, but I'm nowhere close.

Take for example, this week: we went and did what we call shovel-tracting. You go knocking, but while one of you knocks the door, the other one shovels the walks of the people. Surprising enough, we get a lot of mixed reactions (you'd be surprised how angry people can get when you shovel their walks: "Why are you shoveling my walk?!? Don't do that!! My Husband can do it!!") Well we came back, and we found that someone had quite purposefully buried our car, and had carefully packed snow around all the wheels. My first reaction: anger, sadness, disappointment. Well, my companion just laughs. She thinks it hilarious. well, I start to smile, but I still feel kind of bad. She takes a few pictures, and we dig ourselves out. Reminded me of the part in Stranger in a Strange Land when Michael first discovers a sense of humor - and how he explains, that laughter is there for those upsetting moments - because when things go wrong, sometimes you just have to laugh, because otherwise, things are just too tragic, and we'd never survive.

[endrant]

We're doing well. We had 4 new investigators this week. Exciting as well is the fact that a lot of the investigators who were given to the elders are also shaping up. And Araceli Saldana, our most recent convert, got over her nerves enough to give her testimony (she's unbearably shy). And she went to the temple to do baptisms for the dead. We're feeling really good this week. We know that miracles are happening. The people who came to church just showed up out of the blue. We're finding people left and right, and while many of them are going to the English program, we feel good about it.

For example, we were knocking some apartments, and we get this girl who's out on her won for the first time. She doesn't speak any kind of Spanish, but we're here, and the sisters aren't, so we go and give her a L1. She asks great questions, and even though her family is American Moorish (Muslim - and just that morning I had the section on teaching to people with a non-Christian background - not planned, it had just caught my eye) she is wide open. She asks about priesthood authority, prophets, obedience to the law of chastity, and so many other things. It's so great, and we commit her to be baptized the end of January. Well, imagine that call to the English sisters:

"How do you guys feel about the end of January?"

"Huh? Why, do you guys have a baptism then?"

"Nope, YOU do."

Miracles happen. And we're happy to be part of them any way we can.

Love you all, and hope that things are amazing for you.

Hermana Maren Jones

PS. The Christmas List:

• 1 box Pocky, and one dark chocolate (orange, raspberry, whatever you feel is good. I'll split it with my companion.) Any more candy than this will simply be given away. (nuts will be gladly accepted.)
• 1 hat (use own judgment. Red or black beret suggested)
• The Statedler pencil I requested last year (I've forgotten the model number to my sadness. I know it was a 20XX, the Xs being unknown numbers. It was noted in a snail-mail, not an e-mail, otherwise I'd have record of it.)
• Scarves, gloves, socks, not really suggested. I have a lot.
• Thigh-high nylons, and maybe some thigh-high tights, socks, leggings, whatever, too.
• Music, with judgment (ask to see someone's copy of the missionary handbook.)
• Pictures welcome, as is money, although at this point, I'd rather that all money goes into my savings account.
• Referrals: not necessarily to me, but I would consider it a great gift for you to give the missionaries someone to teach. Even better if you let the missionaries teach them in your homes.
• Flannel board: a lot of investigators we have right now can't read, so we need a portable way to teach them. Stories I'd like Include: The First Vision, Lehi leaves Jerusalem, Noah and the ark, the birth and death of Christ, Moses and the 10 commandments. Also, It'd be nice if I could get a plan of salvation diagram.

Email Received December 1, 2010

So this week has been COLD. I mean, like, high of 27 and low of 18 is kind of cold. My companion swears it wasn't that cold in Utah, and I believe her: 25 and humid is as different from 25 and dry as 80 humid/dry. I have to freely admit, I have very little desire to ever live in Illinois. Everyone talks about how a lot of missionaries leave their missions and are like, "I love this place! I want to come back!" But quite honestly, I am ready to go back to the desert. I don't like the climate here, and I if want to find Mexicans, I'll go to Mexico. I really don't see any reason to stay here.

We're doing' just peachy, when all is said and done. We're starting to really get a lot of return appointments going, so we're no longer knocking ALL the time. Thanksgiving was interesting, because we had a "thought he went back to Mexico, been inactive forever" member show up. He was a really good guy, but you could see how he had let a little thing ruin years of his life. I hope I never let anything like that happen to me. Still, it was awesome, because the atonement is starting to work in this guy's life, bringing with it humility, contentment, and peace in a man who wasn't sure those really existed any more.

So, I got a weird call from Elder Cuentas, our district leader the other day. He's a good guy, but he goes home in December, so he's getting a little trunky. Anyway, he calls me up and asks if we were having issues with the area. I asked him to explain, because I really didn't understand. He said that both he and the zone leaders were wondering why our numbers, which had been so high before the split, were now so low. Well, I thought it was obvious, but gently explained that when they area split, he and his companion got all of our investigators that were on date, and all that were progressing, and all of our new investigators, while we were left with a bunch of MIAs and a few good solid people that were just ridiculously hard to get a hold of. We had been spending day’s tracting, and we'd been firmly pushing the members for referrals. It wasn't being easy, but we were just beginning to reap the rewards that day. "It just is taking some hard work to get the area up to speed," I said.

He didn't say anything for a moment, and then asked, "Wait, you guy's didn't have ANYONE on date after the split?"

"No - you got all three of them."

"Oh."

We talked for a minute more, and then he hung up. but then five minutes later, he called back:

"Um, I just called to tell you that we're really grateful for all the hard work you put into our area, and because you did that, we want to do something for you."

And I'm sitting there going, “What on earth?”

"Do you know what a blitz is?"

"A what?" (I'm still back on "We're really grateful")

"A blitz." (A blitz is where missionaries get together and just knock out a whole area in one day - sometimes a whole city.)

"Yeah, I know what a blitz is."

"Well we want to come blitz an area in Woodstock for you Friday."

"Um, we're in Marengo Friday."

"OK then, just pick out some streets for us to knock, and tell us where it is this Wednesday at coordination."

"Ok, elders. Thanks a lot."

And all the time I'm still going, "Huh?" Still, the elders are so sweet.

Well that's all for now. Stay warm. Love you and miss you, and hope your Christmas is the best.

Sincerely,

Hermana Maren Jones

Email Received November 24, 2010

Heeeee. Illinois weather is CRAZY.

So, In general, we've been hovering around the high-30s to the low 40s. Cold, but not unpleasant. Then Monday, it was (drum roll please!)  65 degrees out! it was warm and muggy, and it rained hard. We ended up spending about an hour just sitting in the car doing some extra planning because of lightning warnings. A tornado Jumped over Harvard, and we made plans to help out if there was, in fact, any tornado damage.

So, then Tuesday, we had a high of (drum roll again:)  34 degrees. VERY cold: the humidity made a huge difference. We got to the evening, and as things began to frost over, and even though it was actually colder. it began to feel warmer, because the moisture was freezing out of the air. We were lucky we didn't have to tract all day, because you stand outside for a few minutes and your toes go numb.

Now it's just plain cold. We’re in full-on winter. We’re looking forward to going shovel-tracting, though.

Not much going on, we're just perfecting our finding techniques. I've got a boatload of pictures to send you, and I hope to have time tomorrow to send them to you.

Hope you're turkey day is the best.

Items to add to the Christmas list:

• Wa-mart gift card (we do 90% of our shopping there, and they have an AMAZING collection of fedoras this year. I'm going to take a picture and send it to you.)
• A pillow of any size shape or age. I don't really have one, and the one I have here is a little too flat.

Email Received November 17, 2010

So, the elders go the bear's share of the investigators when the area split, including all of our recent converts and baptismal dates. In fact, they got pretty much everything.

We're doing alright; we're just doing a LOT of finding. We spent all of Monday knocking doors in an area everyone told us was full of Hispanics. Yeah, not so much. We ask them if they know any neighbors that speak Spanish. It's depressingly hilarious because we get the typical video game responses of "I couldn't tell you anything; try asking the blacksmith," and so on.

Hermana Lockwood is AMAZING. She's 23 years old (and will be returning home a "menace to society," according Brigham Young) she was in the intermediate Spanish program in the MTC, and is just plain cool. She is double majoring at BYU (Her degree is still in limbo, as her community college is not sending the right transcripts to the Y) in Special education and Math Education. She’s just so sweet and so ready to be here. We're getting to be good friends.

That said, she' the only new thing this week. We didn't have district meeting Monday, and we've been knocking, sooo...

Everyone is putting Christmas stuff up, and I got bit. I put up the tree you gave me, and three other small trees we found in the apartment. It makes the apartment feel way more cozy, but I plan on giving one of the trees to the elders in McHenry, since they're in a new apartment and don't have all the missionary detritus that accumulates over the years.

So, since the trees are up, here's the list of things I might like:

• 1 box Pocky, and one dark chocolate (orange, raspberry, whatever you feel is good. I'll split it with my companion.) Any more candy than this will simply be given away. (Nuts will be gladly accepted.)
• 1 hat (use own judgment. Red or black beret suggested)
• The Statedler pencil I requested last year (I've forgotten the model number to my sadness. I know it was a 20XX, the Xs being unknown numbers. It was noted in a snail-mail, not an e-mail, otherwise I'd have record of it.)
• Scarves, gloves, socks, not really suggested. I have a lot.
• Music, with judgment (ask to see someone's copy of the missionary handbook.)
• Pictures welcome, as is money, although at this point, I'd rather that all money goes into my savings account.
• Referrals: not necessarily to me, but I would consider it a great gift for you to give the missionaries someone to teach. Even better if you let the missionaries teach them in your homes.

Love you all, and hope you have an awesome Thanksgiving.

Email Received November 10, 2010

Heeeee. Guess whaaaat.

Transfers are today, and I'm training.

I'm terrified. (There is no smiley for terrified, is there?)

So, her name is Sister Lockwood. She's from Salt Lake. When I actually get to know her, I'll tell you more. In addition to this, my area has been split, and the district changed, and everyone with experience has gone home. IE I might as well be the first sister District Leader.

I'm shaking.

The branch is doing well. I've got some stuff I want to send you in the mail.

Sorry this is so short, but I'm nervous... and out of time.

Looove youuu aaaaall

Maren Jones

Email Received November 3, 2010

Ok, Miracle of the month: Araceli Saldana.

Flash back to # 47, When we were in a blind panic about Agustin. The elders had forwarded a Spanish-speaking couple to us. One was a member who had been active for some years, the other was his loving but extremely shy wife. We met them after church, and set up a follow-up appointment, all the while, Araceli is sitting there looking at us funny.

(That night, she went to work with her husband. She told him that while she was willing to take the discussions, she was going to take everything slowly, and see where all this lead her. If we pushed baptism on her, she would stop.)

Well, that Tuesday, we meet them in the Crystal Lake Chapel, with Presidente Olvera coming along with us. We talk briefly, and Have an excellent first lesson. (See Preach My Gospel, Chapter 3, Lesson 1) When we get to the part about Joseph Smith, she shares a story about how when Shared (Book of Mormon name, BTW. check the last few chapters of Ether) and her were first dating; how her family all told her that the Mormons worshipped Joseph Smith, but Shared and his family all said that this was not true. She was studying both the Bible and a few Liahonas, (Intl version of the church magazines), but still felt confused. She prayed for god to help her understand.

That night she dreamed about an image of Joseph Smith (see attached), with the text, "We do not worship Joseph Smith." She had never seen the picture before, and thought the whole thing very odd.

The next morning, she found the pile of Liahonas on her breakfast table had moved slightly, revealing the one issue she had not yet looked at. (Dec 2005)  On the cover was the picture from her dream. Startled, she opened the magazine to exactly this point:

"We do not worship the Prophet. We worship God our Eternal Father and the risen Lord Jesus Christ. But we acknowledge the Prophet; we proclaim him; we respect him; we reverence him as an instrument in the hands of the Almighty in restoring to the earth the ancient truths of the divine gospel, together with the priesthood through which the authority of God is exercised in the affairs of His Church and for the blessing of His people."

As she tearfully related this experience, she realized that she had received not just a clarification of the Gospel Doctrines, but also a firm confirmation that Joseph Smith was in fact a prophet, and that this is his church in Latter Days. We asked if she would be baptized, and she told us "The sooner, the better." We fixed the date for October 23. Her husband (who had been watching the whole thing wide eyed 0_0) unswallows his tongue and says that he never imagined this would happen, and that he knows we were called of god to teach them: the reason that Araceli had been watching us so funny in church was because she was sure that she has met us before. He shared a few experiences of his mission, and testified of the divinity of the work.

Talking with Presidente Olvera later that week, we asked if Shared would be ready in time to baptize his wife. Presidente said probably not, that it would be better to choose someone else.

Araceli just flew through the lessons. We resolved several of her long-time concerns, and she became less and less shy. It was like teaching our best friends. We choose Hermano Wachlin, one of the branch councilors, to do the baptism.

Last appointment before the baptism, we're putting the finishing touches on the program. President Olvera is interviewing Shared to check on his progress. We are just about to explain that Hno Wachlin just had something come up, when Presidente comes out. He asks us who we had planned to do the baptism. We explain the situation. He looks at Araceli and asks, completely deadpan: "How about if Hermano Shared Saldana does the baptism?"

Of course, she cries, he cries, we cry, and we all know it's a miracle. 

The baptism goes off without any major problems. (we ended up using a plate to cover the drain in the font because the rubber plug had broken.) That same day, she goes out to help us with a couple appointments. She gets the Holy Ghost the next day, and has begun to absolutely blossom under it's influence. She's not nearly so shy anymore.

This past Sunday, the Saldanas were called as ward missionaries.  They're so thrilled, and we are so honored to have been able to work with them.

Whew. That took a bit.

Transfers are next week. Hermana Mendoza is going home, with about half of our district. I'm probably going to be training. Not to mention our area is getting split, and the English program we were temporarily covering is still going to be really green. I might as well be the first Sister District Leader (joking). Things should be interesting for w while.

Love ya lots. Be good.

Email Received October 13, 2010

It's been a good week. We've boosted our contacting a lot, although all attempts to go knocking have failed. Hermana Mendoza has never really been knocking in her whole mission, because she knocks the first door, and they let her in. ^_^. We feel good.

General conference was a blast. I now know how to work the satellite system, as they guy who the English branch sent had no idea what he was doing, and I do well with computers. ^_^. not many people came, but it was good. Mariana was there, and she used up my whole notebook for coloring. ^_^

Not much else going on this week.

We have one investigator, and there's no gentle way to say this, who is dying. She has terminal Cancer, and has recently lost all her appetite. She's on date, but Hermana and I are nervous for her. The situation is so serious, and we're terrified every time she's late for an appointment. at the same time, the situation is kinda funny too. or maybe I just have a morbid sense of humor. It is weird to think that "endure to the end" might only mean a week or two, but as the parable of the laborers illustrates, it's enough.

Not much to say. take care, love you, Wish I could see how much you all have changed.

Maren Jones

Email Received October 6, 2010

Well, fall has really begun: we had our first real frost this past Saturday. Leaves are turning all kinds of beautiful colors (I'll get you some pics soon, I hope) and the corn is coming down a field at a time. We're starting to see sprinklers come out (I wasn't sure they used sprinklers in Illinois... this place is wet and muddy) and at the same time people are getting ready to blow out their sprinkler systems. Halloween decorations are out, and candy is in all the stores. (No thank you, I still have some left over from my birthday.)

I want to apologize if my last e-mail worried anyone. I'm not really freaking out or at all worried about the future, because I know you all have my back. ^_^ I'm just kind of struggling with the fact that for the first time in my life, I actually know what I want to do. I have goals and dreams, and they bring with them some mental and spiritual changes I have to make. I am trying to get things a little firmer in my mind, but the future will come when it comes. Right now I'm in the mission. I just don't want to be like the missionaries who get out and don't even know where to begin. FYI, I read two great talks that helped me immensely on just that topic the very next day, and I'm chill like a frost covered pumpkin .
Ok, that made no sense, but I like it.

The talks are:

David A. Bednar, “Things as They Really Are,” Liahona, Jun 2010, 22–31

Jan Pinborough, “Your Mission in Life Is Now,” Liahona, Jun 2010, 42–44

Work goes on. We're helping one of our on-date investigators get over a minor law-of-chastity hang-up. (He’s in a relationship where they were considering getting serious, but aren't yet.) We're focusing on the nature of covenants, the necessity of commandments, and putting God first in our lives. I think he'll be just fine; he's just got to tell his girlfriend what he wants.

Hermana Mendoza is going trunky in the oddest way. This is her last transfer, and I swear, she has cabin fever. During companionship study and weekly planning, she gets up and paces. She keeps saying she's tired of seeing the same four walls; that she wants to get out and DO something. It's funny, in a way.
Um, that's about it, for now. Sorry this letter so short. Hope all is well on the home front.

Sincerely,

Maren M Jones

Email Received September 29, 2010

Well, we turn the English area back over this week. We're no longer zebras. (Name for any missionary set that covers two languages). We feel a little relieved, because, quite honestly, we've not been able to do the ward justice. We feel good.

Next week, I finish a year as a missionary. I have mixed feelings. As a foreign-speaking sister, my ministerial certificate expires between two transfer dates, and I need to decide if I want to go home the transfer before or the transfer after. (Because of the 3 week difference in the MTC.) I'm not sure what my exact dates are, but I need to decide soon. I also need to know for sure if you guys are going to come pick me up. It feels weird - when I started my mission, the end seemed so far away... now it seems too close. I'm not sure If I'm anxious to go home or anxious to stay. I'm not trunky, but I've seen trunky often enough to wonder what it'll be like when I get there.

I've collected several notes on what I want to do with my life after the mission, what kind of traits I'll be looking for in my partner, how I want to change my schooling, but it's all a jumbled mess: How do I expect to design video games and be a successful mother? I mean, before the mission, I looked at a career as a placeholder and emergency backup, something I worked on while I was waiting to have a family, something I needed just in case I had to support them later on. I was totally OK with being a housewife - and when I hit the MTC, that desire to have a family doubled, as did my desire to go to a real school and get a real degree. Shortly after I hit the field, ideas started bumping around in my head, and one night it just hit me - I would just love to make video games! I really enjoyed my programming classes, and I did really well in them, too! And what a force for good I could be in a world that is drowned with violence and pornography! All of a sudden, I had direction in my life, for the first time since I was 10.

But is that really what I should do? I mean, I never planned to be a "classic" Mormon housewife, anymore than Mommy was. But how could I balance the two desires? As a game designer, I would have to meet and work with others regularly as a team - and these others would not share the same moral ideas as me, almost certainly would not be family oriented. (And I absolutely refuse to work in either Disney or Barbie games! I want to make GOOD games.) I mean, I already have experience dealing with that, because of who my friends have been, but, I would have to leave the home regularly... but I want to be there for my kids, too! I want to be a force in my home! I want to be ready when they walk in the door, want to do the laundry and clean the house. I mean, I have to figure out how I'm going to do this and soon, because I'm not going to wait to get married.

Pretty problem.

Nefi, a young man in the branch, get his mission call today, we think. We're both thrilled, and sad: this young man has been one of the driving forces in the branch for a long time. We're going to miss him for sure.

Ok, got to go. Love you all so much, and I really appreciate your help.

Email Received September 22, 2010

Heee. Ok, we had a baptism this past week. Agustin has been to just about every Christian church ever. He reads his bible and now is putting a lot of effort in to the Book of Mormon and the D&C. About 50 and single, he lives in the house of another investigator, and while initially leery of baptism, has recently begun to really fly, asking us if he was progressing enough. We assured him that he was, and arranged for his baptismal interview.

Well, he almost didn't come. His ride had a last minute injury. We made frantic phone calls while the Mission President (special case interview, anyone curious about that can see the section on conducting interviews in Preach My Gospel) sat very patiently and waited. he finally showed up, and we waited nervously while he was interviewed (because you NEVER know what's going to happen in the baptismal interview.) He passed, and was baptized that Saturday he bore a sweet testimony, asking the members to help he continue following in the path. I think that was a major wake-up call for our mission leader, cause he commented on it in his talk the following Sunday.

Speaking of the following Sunday, Spanish branch has sacrament meeting last. Gospel doctrine begins, and AGUSTIN IS NOT THERE. Nor was he there for the beginning of priesthood. Hermana and I are making frantic phone calls, when one of his room-mates calls and tells us that some anonymous white truck just picked him up and carried him away (ohmigosh our investigator just got kidnapped!) Well, that wasn't the case - one of our members had run back and picked him up. He was present and well for his confirmation in sacrament. 

Then Hermana realized that she has to give talk on service in five minutes, and I notice that our pianist (a youth volunteer from the English Program - I'm conducting) has chosen a few hymns that are either 1) not in Spanish or 2) drastically different in Spanish.

Ok, Miracle of the Month.

That same Sunday, we get a call from Zone Leaders: they just re-directed a Spanish-speaking couple our way. We're ok with that, but in a panic about Agustin. So we finally meet them after sacrament. He's super-inactive, she's not enthusiastic, and does not look happy to see us. We set an appointment for Tuesday.

(We learn later that she has had several exposures to the church and the missionaries, mainly through his family, and after church and almost directly before our appointment, she tells her husband that she wants to take the lessons super slow, and does not want to be pushed towards baptism.)
We meet for our appointment in Crystal Lake chapel. President Olvera (branch president and super-supporter of the work) comes along. The lesson starts well enough (she seems happier) and we settle into teaching about the restoration. She takes it all very well, and we begin talking about prayers and answers. He shares an amazing experience about praying to understand Joseph Smith's place in our beliefs, and receiving an answer. She tearfully concludes that she knows that Joseph was a prophet. we ask her to be baptized on October 23, and she says the sooner the better. We ask if the 9th is too soon, she says it might be, she'll check her schedule. Meanwhile her husband unswalows his tongue (he's been in silent shock ever since we asked the baptismal question) and shares a few similar experiences from his mission (which he had had to end early due to health issues). He basically testifies that we've been called of God, and that he knows that when missionaries work hard, miracles happen. He holds back his tears, but sincerely thanks us for our sacrifice. He then offers a sweet closing prayer, and does a brief interview with the branch president.

Ok, you may now be wondering why on earth I say the sky is falling when we're seeing miracles. It has nothing to do with the huge thunderstorms we've been having (we've had to pull off the road several times this month due to extreme rain and wind). The other night we had just finished an appointment, and were outside talking with an investigator outside of a Burger King when something black falls out of the night sky and lands with a "slap" in the parking lot... and then crawls a few inches. I'm the only one to see it. At first I think it's a frog, but there hasn't been a tornado in over a week. Maybe a leaf blown in the wind?... but there are no trees nearby, and it's not that windy. I go over and look, confusing both my companion and the investigator. I get close enough to see, bend over, and then declare that it is a bat. (Except I don't know how to say bat in Spanish, so I just say bat, which I think just made them more confused.) They come look, and say that it's a "Morcieloga" (I think I've got that right.) I reach out to touch it (you know me) and Hermana freaks out a little, saying it's going to suck my blood. I firmly correct that myth. The little brown bat bares its teeth at me but barely moves as I gently touch its back. I think it was hurt, but what could I do? if dogs and cats are to be avoided, bats are definitely off limits. We leave it laying there in the parking lot.

Ok, that's all I've got. Have a wonderful week.

(PS - Halloween is coming up, and I want pictures!!!)

Hermana Maren Jones