31 August, 2015 - Going Great

Dear Family and Friends,

Things are going great in Hemet. I went through the 1st week with my new companion and he is awesome. His name is Elder Cornia (like the eye). He is from Randolf, Utah. (By Bear Lake) He has been in Riverside for 6 months and now he is here with me. He is like 6' 3'' and 280 lbs... and he is the baby! He comes from a family of Giants!!!

Tuesday was kinda a rough day because it was the first time I had to take over the area. It turned out alright. Elder Cornia was the new District Leader and he had excellent training on listening. Later we helped a recent convert prepare for a talk he will give next week or the week after.

Wednesday was kinda unusual. My companion and my friend Elder Williams's companion went to a meeting in Riverside for trainers since me and Elder Williams are still in training. We spent the morning at our place and had some work done. When Elder Cornia got back, we biked to a guy who lived 2 miles away and he wasn't home. Not only that, but Cornia's bike got a flat so we had to walk 2 miles to get back home... in 100 degree weather😢. We also got a baptism interview for an investigator and she needs to be interviewed again by someone from the mission presidency. She will probably be baptized on the 9th.

Thursday we had a training/luncheon at the house of a guy named Bob Davis. This meeting is once every transfer and it is training at the stake level about how to progress the work. Then we had our weekly planing. After that we saw a few people and made some progress with a Less-Active.

Friday was just like Wednesday. Elder Cornia and Elder Marcada (Elder Williams' companion) had to go to Riverside again for a new District Leader training. This time, we were in Elder Williams' area and he got a lot of work done. After being with him all day, we had a really good lesson with another less active. Williams inspired me to work harder.

Saturday our work paid off. We had 4 lessons, a new investigator, and contacted a few referrals. We got another investigator who will be baptized on the 16th, and our new investigator has a baptism date on the 30th. He will need some work, but I think he will get there by then.

Sunday was a good day. After Church, we went walking the streets for about an hour and a half and we got 5 or so more potential investigators. We also go to burn Elder Cornia's tie at the Gonzales' home to celebrate 6 months in the mission. We also played Uno. One round was really quick, I won. The next round took like 30 minutes, Elder Cornia won. 

Today we played chair soccer, which is everyone on everyone and you try to hit a person's chair with a soccer ball and if your chair gets hit, you sit down until you can catch the ball with your hands in the air. Then, I went with the San Jacinto and the Mountain View Elders and we went shopping and all that fun stuff and now we are E-mailing.

It was an interesting week, but overall it was great. Have fun, ya'll. Will write next week.

❤Elder Jewkes

24 August, 2015 - 1st Transfer completed

Dear Family and Friends,

 

It has been a crazy transfer because it was my first, but it was great. This one will be crazy as well because 3 Elders from the Hemet Stake will become Zone Leaders...My trainer included. So my trainer is leaving for Corona and I will have a new companion to finish training me. It will be weird because Elder Cornia is my trainer and District leader, but yet I'll be the senior companion. I can think of at least 4 other "Greenies" that will get new trainers as well.

 

Tuesday was any other day. We had lessons with a few recent converts and had dinner at the Child's, who were also recent converts. As we were talking about Elder Hoyt, the previous companion, he called us and we had a good conversation with them.

 

Wednesday we got free haircuts!! How cool is that? While we were traveling, we had a biker flag us down and told us he was trying to find missionaries for 2 weeks. He isn't in our area, but we did talk to them about the gospel and he is really interested. I love when that kind of things happen. We also picked up a few new people and we'll see how that will turn out.

 

Thursday was our weekly planning and helping a member fix his computer. That was when I wished Trevor was there. We had dinner with the bishop and talked business. Unfortunately, we had to drop an investigator because she was no longer interested.

 

Friday was a good day because a Returned Missionary visited us as he was touring the mission and we had dinner with a family in which an investigator lives with. We had a lesson and she finally committed to baptism on the 2nd of September. It was great because the spirit was so strong as we helped her understand reading scriptures.

 

Saturday was the day Elder Manson was called by President Mullen to be a Zone Leader and leave to Corona. I was so shocked because I didn't see it happening. We hung out with one of Elder Manson's friends from Lake Elsinore and had a few lessons. There is this one guy that wants to be baptized but he has a few complication we need to figure out first.

 

Sunday was the day of good-byes for Elder Manson. We saw a few people he got really closed with, especially the family that we ate dinner with on Friday. The investigator didn't take it too well.

That was all we really did.

 

Today we played b-ball and I am hanging out with some other missionaries because Elder Manson is leaving in 10 minutes and Elder Cornia won't be here until 3:30. I still can't believe that this is happening. It will be for my benefit though.

 

Sorry I didn't write much but I need to get going. Have a great week everybody.

 

❤Elder Jewkes 

17 August, 2015 - Week 6

Dear Family and Friends,

Things are going pretty good in California. I can't believe that I am almost done with my 1st transfer!

Tuesday was our monthly ZDM meeting where we work together to set and achieve goals as a zone. So after the meeting, we went to see some people with a guy named Brother Brown. He is a really cool guy and we happened to have dinner with the Browns, which was good because our meal calendar had disappeared. A member happened to bring it home by accident so we got it later. Bro Brown happened to give Mom a phone call which really surprised me. It was also the first day that we implemented a higher level of daily planning, which is really helping us a lot.

Wednesday was our first day on splits! I went with the Ward Mission Leader and Elder Manson went with another member. We got a lot of ground covered. We are starting to contact all the referrals we got a while ago and getting appointments from them. Later, we went with another member to met a new investigator. She has potential if we can help her with her working issue, which is working all the time. 

Thursday was our weekly planning and cleaning so we were in the apartment all morning. After a day of not much success, we had our Ward List Meeting where the ward directory and records are updated. We got some referrals from there.

Friday, I went on my first exchanges with the zone leaders. It was kinda hard because I had to take over the area which was weird because usually, trainees would go to the other area to learn. Also it wasn't even a whole day! We started after lunch. Anyway, we had a great day. We set appointments, received more referrals, and had some fun in the process. So Elder Reyes tried to fix a sprinkler at our dinner appointment and he got SOAKED! It was kinda funny.

Saturday he had another blitz. This one was different because it was a SPANISH blitz, which means I went with a spanish elder and let him do all the talking. Elder Pawlecki is a really cool guy. We found a cool guy when we were trying to find another guy. I like it when that happens. 

Sunday was really good because Brother Campbell from the bishopric gave a really amazing lesson in Gospel Principles about the law of sacrifice. We continued to contact people, met with the Moehle's, and had a lesson with an investigator for the first time in 2-3 weeks.

Today we went to the stake center and played B-Ball, Volleyball, and even jump rope. And now I am e-mailing to you all.

It was a slow week, but in the Park Hill area it changes every week from a good week to a bad week. I wish it was a little more consistent. Have fun in your endeavors and i'll write next week.

❤Elder Jewkes

10 August, 2015 - Another week in Hemet

Dear wonderful family,

How is life back in Utah? I can't believe I am almost done with my first transfer! So cool! Well, the week went a little like this:

Tuesday was a little slow but it was spiritual anyways. We had an awesome DDM about the Book of Mormon and the gift of tongues overcame me. I actually participated a ton and did really good on the role play. We had a great lesson with some recent converts and their member daughter and son -in-law showed up in the 2nd half and we had an amazing discussion on the Book of Mormon. We had dinner at a local taco shop with a member and she wanted us to try to talk to a homeless guy and see how he's doing, Well, when we first tried to talk to us he threaten to beat us up if we didn't leave. So we left and later came back and asked him if he wanted anything to eat. He later apologized for his behavior and we got him a burrito and some water. We had something called a James Burrito, which was basically shredded beef, ranch, and french fries. It was so good, yet so unhealthy. ( FYI I am at a total weight loss of 5 lbs and currently at 235)

Wednesday we had our Trainer-Trainee meeting in Riverside and that was so much fun, except we had to wake up early for that 😢. The bad thing was that we had to drop an investigator because she didn't really want to listen to the lessons for a while. She wanted "a break". Oh well, she lives with a member family for now so we are still there every once in a while. Hehe.

Thursday was also slow, but we still had some good lessons with Part Member Families and Less Actives. We have three guys that we are trying to help receive the priesthood: 2 Aaronic and 1 Melchizedek (Thank you Auto-Correct). It was alright.

Friday was fabulous! The work was slow, but we got permission from the Mission President to go to a minor league baseball game in Lake Elsinore. It was called "Stormin' Mormon Night". It was Lake Elsinore Storm vs San Jose. I was mixed about what team because Dad served in San Jose. It was so much fun. So we got a ride from a member in the Spanish Ward and payed for treats, (I didn't get too much) and he even got us (us and the Spanish Elders and Sisters) a souvenir baseball. He was so nice. He kept saying "Get what you want, this is the Lord's money". He was so awesome!!! We got home a little late, but we still got to bed on time, somehow.

Saturday was a great day. We had a blitz in our area and got 14 referrals!!! We got two, Sisters Olsen and Meza got 8 somehow. I got to ask them what their secret is. Anyway, we had 4 lessons today and worked with the Relief Society President and a member of the bishopric about getting home teacher and visiting teachers. We went to go to a lesson at 8:20 with a member. And guess what...HE PLAYS BASS!!!!!! I finally met someone who plays bass! I know where I'm going on P-days!

Sunday, we had an amazing lesson in Sunday School about the sacrament. There were struggles in that class. It was so bad, we almost took over. But it's getting fixed now. We spent most of the day going over our referrals and we gave 4 blessings today. That was great. Our dinner was amazing. Only one other word can describe it: Polynesian!!! I gained 5 pounds from that meal! It was delicious.

So far today, We had crossfit in Menifee with the Mission President and he is in excellent shape. It felt like a track workout...but I didn't have one since May so it was rough, but fun. Afterward, I played volleyball for 2.5 hours! A lot of the people said I should do volleyball in college when I get home. Can you look up the USU men's volleyball program, if there is one, for me?

It has been a great week. We hit standard so that's good. I miss ya and can't wait to hear from you.

❤Elder Jewkes

3 August, 2015 - Another week

Howdy Family!

I can't believe that it has already been a month! Time is flying so fast! Probably because I am in Hemet. ☺

Tuesday, we had our regular weekly meeting with the zone and districts. However, we had 2 birthdays and we just had to celebrate. It was great. We seem to get referrals that just aren't in our area and we are running out of people to teach so we have been working on street contacting since tracking is both dangerous and a waste of time, according to the mission. We taught a recent-convert couple that is looking toward the temple which is great. We have a lot of In-actives and recent converts so we have been seeing and following up with.

Wednesday was interesting because we had another baptism. This one was a lot less stressful and he is looking forward to receive the priesthood and he has potential to serve a mission since he is only 17. Yet, we visited an investigator that the missionaries have been seeing and we really tried to help her pray by bringing a member who had the same issue before she was converted. I think we asked too many questions or something because she had a panic attack and left the room and didn't come back. It is hard working with teenagers.

Thursday we went through the part member family list to find more investigators. There are a few that just don't have that desire to be baptized yet they are amazing people. Apparently, KFC has a buffet! At least the one that some members took us to. It was interesting. At this point I am taking more responsibility in the companionship such as carrying the area cell phone and a little bit of planning while trying to learn the area and try to be able to get around without being complete completely lost.

Friday wasn't that bed either.We followed up with a recent convert who is still worrisome to me since she hasn't been to church since she was baptized. She's doing alright and says she will come to church. We visited an inactive named Victor. We normally read through the Book of Mormon with him, but now he is curious about the priesthood since he doesn't have it. We had dinner with a family that recently moved into the ward. They are the Bishops. And yes, he was a bishop at one point. They said they might have someone for us to teach, which is awesome for us. Then we talked with AJ, a neighbor in the apartment complex. He is a really good guy and we see potential if we continue to teach by example.

Saturday was the one month mark! We spent the morning going on blitz for the Valley Vista Sisters, meaning the whole zone will go street contacting in an area for 2 hours. We found a few, but the total for the sisters was a lot. Hopefully, they can go somewhere with those referrals. We might have a blitz in our area this coming week. So one of Elder Manson's friends from Lake Elsinore came to visit and I got to meet him. He is an awesome guy. Elder Manson had some bike problems so he borrowed one of the sister's bike until his gets fixed on Wednesday.

Sunday was Fast Sunday and it was kinda hard because it was really hot that day. Apparently, I had some bike issues as well and we spent a lot of the day getting both of our bikes to work, but they are all good now.  We spent our Companion Study listening to talks from President Thomas S Monson and it was great. I can't believe I found something that I actually don't like to eat! Weird, huh? I guess coconut water isn't that tasty. We did meet a family that was having a lot of trials in their lives and gave the father a blessing. It was great.

Today, we went bowling as a zone and e-mailed up to this point. Our ward mission leader set up a deal with a fast food owner if we brought customers to his place he would come to church. I wonder how this will turn out.

Well, I miss you all and can't wait to e-mail again next week.

❤Elder Jewkes