He's Hearing Plane Sounds-week 92
90 weeks in Phoenix mission, 5 weeks in Buckeye
Dear friends and family, This week was pretty uneventful, but I'll try to squeeze out a decent letter. My apologies if it's pretty short... Big dogs A week before I got to this area, the missionaries baptized a brother and a sister who live together, the Gomez's. They are really awesome; they're both teachers and have a great sense of humor. They have three dogs—BIG dogs. For this reason, we usually meet at the church for our lessons with them. We had dinner with them this week, so we met at their house. They have two really big dogs (I'm not sure the breed) and a huge Dalmatian. I'll attach a picture I took with him. His name is Max. Plane Sounds Elder Sumsion goes home a week from today so he is definitely "hearing plane sounds." One morning during studies I looked over at him and he was just reading his flight itinerary and a plane was actually flying over us outside. I said, "hey, you hear that?" He replied with, "Yeah, that plane was so close it almost hit me." From what I have observed, he is most excited to lift weights for longer than 30 minutes a day, and go to the gym whenever he wants. Can you tell we're pretty opposite? Haha! Interviews We also had interviews with President Griffin this week. During my interview he thanked me for what I have contributed to the mission. He said that he's "expended his limits" on asking me to do difficult things for him. Haha. He told me he's going to give me a companion who will be able to take over the area when I go home. He said I'm either going to train a new missionary who is really solid, or I'm just going to get a solid veteran. (Crossing my fingers for that one...) So I guess we'll see! I'll find out next week. Bike Box Hassle Elder Sumsion has been trying to mail his bike home all week! We had interviews in Goodyear this week so while we were over there we took his bike in to Sport Chalet, a sports store that ships bikes. Well, they're going out of business so they discontinued all services. They referred us to a bike shop in Litchfield Park that ships bikes cheap. So we went there, and they told us they don't ship bikes. So we drove back home...still with his bike! We're pretty sure we figured it out though. Investigators We've been struggling finding new people to teach out here, but we're still working hard. The investigators we do have are pretty solid. The three we're working with the most right now are Stephanie, Ladonna, and Ruth. Stephanie: She is our most solid investigator. I have talked about her before in previous letters. She is the referral we got from the Solar guy. She just got a new job that allows her to have Sunday's off and come to church! She recognizes that the Lord helped her get that job so she could come to church. She is accepting almost all of what we teach her, but she has a couple hang ups. Her biggest one is how her family will take it. She's working on that, and continues to keep all of her commitments. It's really refreshing to have someone who doesn't cancel appointments, keeps commitments, and isn't absolutely Glendale crazy. Funny story—she asked me what my favorite soda is and I told her Mtn. Dew Baja Blast from Taco Bell and at our next lesson she gave me a can of it. She had gone out and gotten me Baja blast! It was awesome!! Luckily she doesn't like it so she said every time we come over I have to drink one to get rid of them. I think I can handle that!! Ladonna: Ladonna isn't the most solid investigator in the world, but she's really sincere. Missionaries have been meeting with her for a while now, but recently she's been making some progress. She loves the Book of Mormon, but she also loves the current church she attends. She also has 6 children at home from the ages of 6-20. The two oldest boys are huge NBA fans and huge black guys! (20 & 17). I started talking basketball with them and really connected with them. The 17 year old said, "Man, for a little white guy you sure know your hoops." Hahaha. I jokingly told him I probably know more about it than he does! So now they love it when we come by, when before they would usually just go into separate rooms. The next step is getting them to sit in on a lesson! Ruth: She is an older lady for whom we have been doing a lot of service. She is so grateful when we help her out. She was pretty closed off, but since we have been helping her recently she has been opening up and actually becoming more interested in coming to church. It's been awesome seeing her change! Weather Yep, it's summer again. It's been in the 100's quite a bit this week. Lucky us! Tornado Anniversary I find it quite confusing why they would hold graduation on Sunday, May 22 this year... I hope no one is superstitious... A lot of members have been asking me about the tornado recently. Home will definitely be in my thoughts this Sunday. Can't believe it's been 5 years since that monster rolled through. Anyway, that was my week! I hope all is going well for everyone. Keep praying and loving one another. I'm looking forward to finding out who my new companion will be next week! Elder Sumsion is looking forward to flying home! As of today, I will be home in exactly 3 months. It's getting close! Too close! Much love, Elder Jones Buckeye 1st & Sundance Wards Arizona Phoenix Mission
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