Jeff can see!!!

Jeff was able to get corrective eye surgery before the end of the year.  It has been so funny to hear him say "This is so cool!"  He keeps on reading things from far away, and we just chuckle.  He tests his vision against everyone's.  We went in for the follow up today and everything looks great.

He still has to wear the eye guards at night so he doesn't accidentally rub his eyes, so this is what I get to sleep with.  As the optometrist says, here are his black mail photos!  He loves it and we are so grateful to have been able to have it done.  By the way...  
               ****Happy New Year! 2014****

Feliz Ano Nuevo

so christmas as a missionary is awesome i think!!!! :) it was the coolest! i got to skype my family and it was soooooooooooo good to see them again! definately the highlight of my year! :) and people are so nice to missionaries! we got sooooo much stuff! i dont know what i am going to do with all of it! ;)  and it was soo cool because we went to eat dinner with this family and they weren't at their house but we were a little early so we gave it some time and right as we were about to leave, their son walks out of the house across the street and says that we should go over there! and this neighbor is DEEPLY religous and is a southern baptist and has a ton of preexisting notions about lds missionaries! and the members family had been trying to work on them for a long time!! and we had talked with (the baptists) before just casually and it went really good but this was only the 2nd time we had seen them so we knocked on the door and the mom opened it and invited us in and fed us a huge meal and we all just talked. thats it. but it was soooo good because it is helping the dad lower those barriers about the lds church! and let me tell you if he was a member he would be stake president material! and so god places these things in our way that we dont see coming and so we just have to have the faith to know that god will lead us in the right direction! :) in other news, for christmas elder sanfords family sent me and him nerf guns so on christmas it was war with the other elders which was fun!!! haha ;) and i also went on another exchange with our district leader and learned a lot! we even got a flat tire in the car and figured out that we could probably be in nascar cuz we changed that pup real quick! haha ;) oh and guess what Nana?!! he is way into the essencial oil stuff too!!!! haha ;) so that night we had a yoga session and oil therapy stuff! :) so love yall and hope that you all had a great christmas! and if you had any stories from that i would love to hear them! :) the church is true and i am so glad to be out here on a mission! hasta proximo semana! :)

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Love Elder Jones 

Merry Christmas from the Jones Family!

We hope you had a wonderful Christmas Day and are enjoying the holiday break.  Jeff is able to take a few days off, so we are enjoying spending time with him.  He is going to put some shelves up for me to help with the new clutter around the house.  The kids were very pleased with their new acquisitions, so I think everyone came out a winner this year.

We made it through Christmas without any new Lego's.  This is an absolute first.  Mason did get a perplexus ball that occupied much of his time.  And I might add many others as we try to be the first one to complete the ball.  We finally got Morgan a good flat iron, which she desperately needed and wanted.  She was so excited.    Sydney finally got her new boots and her leggings that she has been begging me for.  I have had to hear about it for a long time, but I had already gotten them for Christmas, and didn't want to duplicate.

And darn Morgan and her long legs.  Nana got her some new jammies and they ended up being a little short.  And that is before we wash them.  We all got a really good laugh over these ones.

Mason needed new reading material, so he received a lot of new books.  And he didn't waste any time getting started.  He is such a character.  We also got the game battleship, which he quickly beat me at, and we also got the game Settlers of Catan.  We are trying to get good at this one, so we can take on a few other families in the neighborhood.   We had our dinner Christmas Eve  (a fabulous pork roulade with herbs and orange/lemon zest, and a potato gratin).  The left overs were wonderful, and after a great breakfast of Belgian Waffles, sausage and fruit... A terrific nap during the kids movies....  Well, all in all it was a great day!

We feel tremendously blessed at this time of year.  We miss our missionary, but know that he is being watched over and protected.  We hope that you all take a moment to count your blessings and as Wesley counseled, strive to spread a little Christmas joy this year.

Christmas Greetings from Elder Jones

Merry Christmas!!!!

We hope that all of you had a wonderful Christmas day.  Ours was very relaxing and filled with peace.  We were able to talk to our dear missionary and see him through skype.  The time limit was very generous and something we needed.  So here is the update on our sweet missionary.

Wesley is doing great.  They live in a home with 2 sets of missionaries.  They get fed almost every night.  The mission is great and extremely supportive.  As he said the members have become his new family.  We were able to thank them at the end of our conversation, for taking such good care of him and they were so warm and welcoming.  Wes said that it really didn't feel like Christmas.  More like a birthday or such because they don't have any snow and it is so warm.  He was so funny reacting to everyone's stories and getting caught up about home.  His companions family sent them some nerf guns for Christmas, so they had an "epic Nerf Fight" (his words) Christmas morning.  He has been warned about the weather in the summer.  Daily deluges, monster mosquitoes, and lovely, lovely humidity.  They were given instruction when they first get their about their new conditions.  They are instructed about cleaning and keeping up on the mold, so it doesn't get out of hand.  They have to keep their home at 76 degrees or lower, in order to keep the mold at bay.  How to scrub their bathrooms to again keep ahead of the mold.  He also said they had their first cockroach just recently.  All four missionaries went on the attack and finally subdued the invader.  But hearing it from them, just cracks me up.

All in all, he looks good, sounds good and is being watched over very well.  Thanks for all your support and prayers, he feels it.  We asked him if he had a chance to try some of the food that we sent him, but he said he was so stuffed, as of the last couple of days, that he couldn't possibly eat anything extra just now.  As a mom, that makes me smile :o).

Have a wonderful week!

Christmas from Florida...

feliz navidad amigos!!!! how are you guys doing???? :) i am doing great! still hot here in florida!!! but a couple of nights ago it actually got down to 46 degrees! whaaaahhhh? :O but its whatevz! can i tell you how awesome our branch is?! i haven't had to eat dinner for like a whole week cuz the members keep feeding us!!!??? its crazy! and on christmas day we have 4 meals in a row! i dont know if i can do it.... haha! i am so blessed to be in this area! the members have become my other family! they are awesome at fellowshipping! for example we had a ward christmas party and they did a chili cook off! and one of the people decided to try and murder some people cuz he made the chili from hell!!! it was sooooooooooooo spicy! easily the spiciest chili i have ever had!!! it had this pepper called the Trinidad Scorpion chili in it and i thought i was going to die! but i had the spirit with me and god doesn't want his missionaries to die so i got thru it! haha :) then we were dilevering christmas cookies to less actives and investigators and doing it doorbell ditch style! anyways while we were doing this, a police helicopter came and was spotlighting the neighborhood and so i was super scared that somebody called the cops on us! then when we were driving away, it shone on our car!!!! AAAAAAHHHHHHHH but then it moved on so we got back safe! talk about sketchy! oh my gosh! but i went on an exchange too and we went to the most ghetto part of orlando called pine hills and we got pulled over by cops there while tracting and they told us to get out of there! soooo...ya but i am still a missionary and i am still alive and being able to preach the gospel and sing...oh ya we went to this town called celebration, and it is owned by disney, and they do this fake snow crap every year! totally not even in comparison with the real thing! but we caroled there and spread some christmas joy! and i want each of you guys to spread some christmas joy this season and tell me how it went! love you all and have a fantastic wonderful happiest joyfulest happy doo da christmas ever!!!!

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Love Elder Jones

Another Week Passed....

i am doing great!!! this week we had 10 new investigators!!! that is apparently really high! so...we biked a lot this week and saw lots of success! i am getting along great with my companion! he is super chill! i have only taught 2 lessons in spanish so i haven't been able to use it a lot so that is a little frustrating!!! but it happens! we get up we exercise, we study for a couple hours, we go out to our appointments, come back for the night, plan, and go to bed! and don't worry about the missionary work on your end!!! it will come! we had a great devotional on member work this week! members are supposed to FIND for the missionaries! all you can do is invite people! everybody has their free agency, and also always fellowship when less actives or investigators come to church! and go on splits with the missionaries! it helps us out so much! so don't be afraid! :) a si se puede!

This was Wesley's note to Jeff.  I received a one liner, so I hope the rest of you all got your "Christmas Cards" that he was anxious to get off.  Who does he think is sending him a package???  One liner...  I will have a thing or two to say to him when we skype on Christmas ;o).  Hope you all have a wonderful week!

The Hobbit...

We are still a little mixed with our ratings of the Hobbit.  Love the story, love the dragon.... ( here comes the BUT) but they took a lot of creative license with the story.  It ends in a terrible spot.  Not enough Beorn.  And Way Too Much Orc Chase!  It is getting old.  I am curious to hear what everyone else thought.

Our latest project!!!

We finally finished our bed.  We have been meaning to make a bed frame for Wesley's bed, and wanted to get it done before he left, but you know, good intentions.  Well, we finally got it done and here are a few pictures.

I have to give credit where credit is due... We got the idea from Pinterest  http://www.birdsandsoap.com/2011/07/it-is-finished.html and then modified it to work for us. We are working our way up to doing the built-ins in the family room.  We will keep you posted.  Enjoy!

Wes is in Florida...

Wes made it to Florida on Dec 2nd.  Don't forget to visit the Mission blog at www.floridaorlandomission.com to see other pictures from the mission field.   Here is his latest post about the first week in the field...

thanks for all of your love and support! well the plane ride was crazy over the ocean and all of that stuff! but we landed in the miami airport and went straight for a burger place! oh food glorious food! it was truly heavenly!... :) then we saw the guy from the old star trek movies commander Sulu! but i couldn't remember his name....so if any of you have a picture and know what his name is i need to know! jk but it would be nice! haha then on the flight to orlando i gave the guy sitting next to me a pass along card! and i was super stoked cuz he seemed really interested! then we met the mission prez and went back to their house and had some more GLORIOUS AMERICAN FOOD!!! (i love america!) and they had the softest carpet in the world! and they had the nicest beds in the world!....it was a good day! and it was just awesome cuz the air here is so clean smelling compared to mexico and the weather is soooo nice right now! it just feels like this is the place i need to be right now! anyways at the transfer meeting i met my trainer whose name is elder sanford! and he is really cool! he has been out for 18 months and is a great guy! we dont have a lot in common but i do know he is a crazy doctor who fan...so if any of you guys could give me a run down of what that is so i can know what i am talking about maybe that would be nice too!!! hahaha but ya i have just been like following him around trying to get the hang of missionary work! and it is so crazy! i cant even remember the names of my investigators! we teach new ones every day it seems! but that is good! i have been assigned to the poinciana north area which is supposed to be part english and part spanish, but seeing as i have taught about 95% of my lessons in english i am beginning to wonder why i went to mexico...hmmm just another one of the mysteries of god i guess! haha :) but i love my area and the members so much! we are only a branch down here and the members want to become a ward soooo bad and they want a building to worship in sooooo bad! (we meet in an elementary school! loco!!!) but they are so helpful with the missionary work! and they feed us a lot too! ;) and it is GLORIOUS FOOD! :) (america is the best place in the world!) we have a car every other day and then we bike the other days! and i love my bike! even though it is hotter than Heck riding it! and it is the middle of december!!! so it is definately weird to think that christmas is actually close! it definately doesn't feel like it here! but we had our first baptism this week (no thanks to me, it was all the elders before me!) so that was really cool! and i am just adjusting to missionary life as it is! and everything is doing great! if any of you want to write me, my mailing address is,

10502 satelite blvd ste. e

orlando fl 32837

i love you all and miss ya tons! Merry christmas!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving week-end.  We had a great time with Jeff being home.  We went climbing on Wednesday, and got our annual pizza from Costco on the way home. Jeff and I were able to make great progress on the head board and foot board for Wesley's bed.  Jeff mapped it all out on his 3-D modeling, so we knew exactly what was going to look like before we started.  We will sand today and finish putting on the rest of the decorative pieces.  Cool!  Will post a pic when we get it all put together.

Thursday, it was way too quiet though.  It was just our family minus Wes.  We managed, but look forward to having extended families and little ones running around.  We watched Pacific Rim for our first feature, and then watched the newest Star Trek:  Into Darkness.   We had great food and lots of fun with friends coming over on Friday and Sunday.  We are feeling extremely blessed at this time of year and hope that as we encounter the commercial mayhem, that we take a moment and remember the reason for the season.  Wes is constantly reminding us of the great gifts and blessings that come from being a member of the church.  Cherish it and share it. Have a wonderful holiday season!

Good Bye CCM

hey yallz this is Elder jones! and this is my last broadcast from the MTC! i leave in two days!!! i am kinda nervous, and i am really sad about leaving my district but i am pretty excited to get out into the mission field! :) but the highlight of my week was that it was THANKSGIVING!!! YAY!!! We started it off right with a Turkey Bowl football game! and it was so fun to play futball americano!!!...until they told us that it was a rule that we couldn´t! :( but our teacher was awesome and he let us listen to christmas music and make indian and pilgrim hats, and hand turkeys! (ya we are that cool!!! ;)) then we wrote grateful notes to everyone in our district and it was almost as good as being home for thanksgiving! :) then since lunch is the biggest meal of the day in mexico, we had our thanksgiving feast for lunch! and boy was it good! it was the best food i have had here EVER! :) then that evening our teacher Hermano Vargas brought us Real Mexican Churros! and they kick the popa out of the churros in america! they were crunchy and covered in sugar and on the inside they were filled with jelly!!! oh man they were good!!! :) then we watched a devotional by elder nelson which was really good! it was about using the members more! then when we got back to the dorms elder nelson opened a package he got and we had a toast with mexican rootbeer! ;) it was by far the best thanksgiving i ever had in Mexico! ;) then the next day was in field orientation (which is just in the classrooms, not in the field...) where we learned about how to use members and how to find people to teach! it helped me a lot to kinda refocus on our objective which is to bring others unto christ! then today we took a ton of pictures and said bye to all of our teachers which was sad! then tomorrow we have to say goodbye to our district... but the lord will provide and i am definately excited to get into the field to help the people of florida! :) i know this church is true and we have a glorious work to do! i know that jesus christ is my savior and redeemer and that he loves us so much and only wants the best for us! peace out until next time! :) love you all so much!

p.s. funny story: elder albin bought a bracelet at the store with the initials JAS on it (thinking it meant Choose the right) but it actually meant Young Single Adult! isnt that ironic?

and also in one year, look up the book "history of benemerito" cuz i should be in a couple of the pictures, (cuz we look like model missionaries! so they took our pictures! haha ) ;)

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Love Elder Jones