27 June, 2016 - Hey! A new(ish) transfer.

Dear Family and Friends,

So, a new transfer is upon us and many changes occurred. So all of us that were in University Heights are now District Leaders (Including me...yay). So, I left to a "new" area. The quotation is because I got transferred to an area that I have served before: Park Hill in Hemet. Yep, my first area that I was in almost exactly a year ago...on bike...in the middle of summer. That is so weird!!! I am with Elder Maughan. He is from South Carolina and has been out for 3 months. So...

MONDAY- was a good old transfer P-day. I got to Hemet at around 10:30 to get out of the office ASAP. So after all the activities and settling in and emailing and what not, we had dinner with the Bishop's. I remember when they moved in last year. This week has been full of De Jah Voo (or however it is spelled). Then, we tried to see Ken (an investigator in the area) and went street contacting for the rest of the day then we planned for tomorrow and did nightly calls with my district.

TUESDAY- was my first DDM!It was pretty nerve-wrecking but I think I did alright. I did a training of "Teach People Not Lessons". It turned out alright. It was a little weird because our district has 2 sets of sisters and 1 set of Elders. It was kinda awkward but it was alright. After we tried a bunch of people and we were only able to get in with Juan, who is now a new investigator. We had dinner with the Gonzales Family, which is the BEST family in the Ward!!! Good times. Then, we got home, planned for tomorrow and made calls with the sisters.

WEDNESDAY- was a day full of contacting referrals. So apparently, this area had a blitz last week and got a ton of referrals so we spent a good chunk of the day contacting with them and setting appointments. We also went street contacting (which we call Seeking With Faith) and had dinner with the Dunn's. They took us to IN-N-OUT. only the best burger place in the world!!! Then we tried some more potentials and got home to plan for tomorrow and called the sisters.

THURSDAY- we had a District Leader Training at the mission office so we carpooled with all 4 DL's in the Hemet stake and took the 1 hour drive to Riverside, had the 3 hour meeting, and drove back...stopping at Chick-Fil-A on the way back of coarse since there isn't one in Hemet. After the meeting, we did our weekly planning until dinner since it was so hot. We had dinner with the Johnson's and since Gabby wasn't home we went walking until our Ward Mission Leader picked us up to see Daniel. He is super solid, he just has some things to work out.

FRIDAY- we tried by potentials and some investigators with no luck then we had lunch and went Seeking with Faith until dinner with the Sorto's. They moved in 2 months ago so I didn't know them. our appointment with Hector cancelled so we were going home until we talked to this one guy and he asked if we knew anything about electrical work for cars. Fortunately, Elder Maughan does so we helped with that and it turned into a 30 minute discussion about the Plan of Salvation. It was epic. Then we went home, planned for tomorrow and called the sisters.

SATURDAY- we spent some extra time preparing talks that the Park Hill missionaries had tomorrow that I happened to walk into. Elder Maughan told me Wednesday so it wasn't a total surprise. After Lunch, we tried everyone we knew trying to find people to teach. Our ward mission leader gave us money for dinner then, we went to see Hector with Scotty Campbell (The assistant WML) It was good. He has some struggles (#Hemetlife) but we can work them out. Then we went home, make calls and finalized our talks for Sunday.

SUNDAY- was church. It was great. Almost everyone recognized me and was super glad that I was back. Daniel came to church so that was good. Our talks went alright. I had that moment when I basically ripped my talk in half and did something totally different. Daniel LOVED church. He has now come a few weeks and we look forward to a baptism soon. After church, we had lunch and did our studies since we had MCM at 7:30 and Ward Council at 8:00 and Church from 9-12. Our dinner had to cancel since they also wanted to feed the sister missionaries in the next ward over in their boundaries so we were the ones who had to cancel. However, the Gonzales were more than willing to feed us. After dinner we had a lesson with Adam Gonzales' Less active brother John, and tried some people on the way back. So we found plastic junk on the road so we decided to throw it off the road...but I threw a piece without looking and hit Elder Maugham right in the face! He bled for 5 minutes and I felt SUPER BAD. We're all cool though. Then we sent in our weekly numbers, collected the sister's numbers and called them.

This transfer is going to be interesting. Who knows what will happen. Love you all. Until next time...

Elder Jewkes

20 June, 2016 - A new transfer

Dear Family and Friends,

Another transfer has come and gone and crazy things happened. I got kicked out of the office early and became a District Leader. I got transferred to Park Hill in Hemet. If that name sounds familiar to you, It is because I had served in that exact same ward 1 year ago. That's super crazy! So my last week in University Heights went like this...

MONDAY- was like any other P-day. Email, shopping, hanging out, etc. After dinner we went walking for the rest of the night to get a head start for the week.

TUESDAY-  we had our DDM meeting. It was really good. It was about getting investigators to church. After, we did some office stuff, tried some people without much luck. With the weather being really hot you would think you would find people home...not the case here.

WEDNESDAY- we didn't have much office time so we got to go out and get some work done. YAY! Even though we didn't really have much success we had fun anyways. At this point the weather got warmer and warmer and warmer. I am not a fan of heat.

THURSDAY- was our weekly planning after office work. Doing both of those takes up most of the day so we didn't get as much done as we wanted to. But it was still good.

FRIDAY- the only highlight from the day was our appointment with Raymond. He is still struggling with quitting smoking so we offered to give him a blessing on Monday and he accepted so I hope that will help.

SATURDAY- we got the calls. My DL call came at 7:45 am and I found out I was leaving at around 9:15pm. We had a breakfast at the stake center. The stake president wants to do this every transfer to help us out with missionary work and to see how missionary-minded our wards are. Then, we had a blitz and did some emergency furniture moving until our 4:30 appointment...which fell through. Then we had dinner and tried one more person. We set up a return appointment. So we ran into some guy at K-Mart and he asked if we were mormon. We said yes. He said that he needed help so we helped him and he said we can come by on Thursday...too bad I'll be gone. Oh well, the work must carry on.

SUNDAY- was church. No investigators came but it was still good. We had a good lesson with both the Elder's and High Priest quorums. After church, I spent 2 hours packing and then we had dinner and that was the rest of the night and got everything planned out for transfers.

Well, we'll see how this transfer will go. It will be interesting. Love you all. Until next time.

Elder Jewkes

So, I am a District Leader, but not in the office. I'm back in Hemet! I am at Park Hill (my first area). Talk about not being the "Norm" for transfers. If you don't remember the address it's 200 N Yale #119, Hemet, CA 92544! I am so excited to be back. My companion is Elder Maughan. This is Elder Maughan's 3rd transfer here so we might not be together that long. Being in my first area means that I'll be on bike for the summer. The baptism seems to be on track. He is having a hard time quitting smoking so Elder Smith and his new companion will give him a blessing tonight. I hope that helps.

19 June, 2016 - DL letter from President Mullen

19 June 2016



Wade and Marci Jewkes

                                                                345 E 450 S
                                                                Hyde Park, UT 84318
                                                                USA



  Dear Brother and Sister Jewkes,

 I am pleased to let you know that Elder Benjamin Coy Jewkes has received the assignment to serve as a District Leader in the California Riverside Mission. This special assignment will offer your son an opportunity for leadership growth. He will have the sacred responsibility to lead and teach those missionaries who are within his district. The Lord has chosen him for his outstanding performance and commitment.

You can take pride in his missionary accomplishments. I am indeed grateful for the training and guidance you have provided that has helped qualify him for this opportunity.

Thank you for your support, and may the Lord be with you always.

Faithfully yours,



John H. Mullen, PresidentCalifornia Riverside Mission

13 June, 2016 - Coming to an end...of the transfer

Dear Family and Friends,

It is coming close to an end of the transfer. It will make 3 transfers as an Office Elder in Riverside. There are normally 4, but since Elder Smith here will only serve for 3, for he goes in September (2 more transfers) that may not even matter. Oh the possibilities... Anyway...

MONDAY- was our quarterly cross-fit. I think President Mullen is trying to make it harder and harder so people feel like they are gaining weight so that we will watch our weight to get rid of the reputation that the CRM (California Riverside Mission) is a 30 lb mission. The fun part of cross-fit is afterwards...where half the mission will play basketball, frisbee, soccer, etc. I was bumping a volleyball and playing Ultimate Frisbee. Those are the fun sports. Then we did the regular P-day stuff and had dinner with Sis. Johnston and her friends. Then we went contacting after dinner for the rest of the day.

TUESDAY- we had ZDM. It was a good one about finding the elect people that are ready for the gospel and that we should look at our teaching pool again to see if these people are "Elect". Our pool decreased dramatically, but we will find more. Afterwards we did some Part Member Family searching and contacting to increase our teaching pool. We tried a potential with no luck then we had Raymond's interview and it was great! He is on date for the 26th of June because we are working on his smoking and we could have it on the 19th but he'll be out of town. Then we had a late dinner and planned for the next day.

WEDNESDAY- we started a bike survey to see how much people spent on their bike and how much they used it so far in the mission. We found people who had been out for over a year and only rode their bike for 3-4 months and costed $600-$700 dollars. I think our Fleet Coordinator is trying to develop a plan to help with bike costs. After the office, we did our weekly planning and had dinner with the Brambilla's. After we went contacting for the rest of the night since it is getting so hot during the day.

THURSDAY- we had our interviews with President Mullen. It went really well. He told us that we had the best numbers for Office Elders in a really long time so he is really pleased with that. Obviously, there are some things we are struggling with. like finding new investigators, but we are working on that. After interviews, Elder Phipps from the other half of our ward got ET'ed (or Emergency Transfer) for complicated reasons and Elder Doi took his place. Yep, the Elder Doi I trained 6 months ago is serving in the same ward as I am! AWESOME! I love that kid! We tried some people with no luck, had dinner with the Fewkes' (..so close) and went contacting for the rest of the day.

FRIDAY- was my day off!!! Just kidding. I was on exchanges with the Zone Leaders and I got to leave my area for the first time  in 4 month, so I guess I did get a day off from Office Duties. (Hehe, Duty).It was really fun to serve in a YSA ward for a day. It is a lot different that a reglular ward, even though they covered a family ward as well. We did contacting in the morning. (The first time I went Proselyting in the morning, on a weekday, for the first time in 4 months). We had lunch with a really cool Less-Active member of the YSA ward. Then we had appointments with Nick (YSA) and Marcos (Family). It was a fun day over all. Also I found a fellow Denver Bronco Fan!!! Finally. All these Raider fans everywhere. It's Raiders, Dodgers, and Lakers all over here. Sometimes 49'ers, Angels, and Clippers, but mostly the first 3.

SATURDAY- we had a blitz for the Mt. Rubidoux Sisters. They got a ton of referrals from that. I went with one of the ASL Elders and we scored on a yard sale where we got 5 ties for $5. 2 of those were Donald Trump Ties and those are expensive. After that, we had lunch, tried some potentials and went contacting. The Troxel's took us to Denny's for dinner and we are so grateful for their generosity. Then we saw a PMF, the Mamawal's. They are doing well.

SUNDAY- we had Ward Council (they only have it every other week). It was good. The other Elders got all the referrals...again. Some day...Church was great. Raymond was there and the Guyers were on base this weekend. (Josh is training to be in the Navy, but they went to the March Air Force base...weird). After 1pm church we talked with the Ward's (all four of us) so that Elder Doi can meet them. Then we had dinner with the Best's. We went to see another PMF, the Pasillas. The parents are LA's and Alex (9) is not a member. We taught them the Plan of Salvation. The parents had questions as well so it was beneficial for all.

So, one more week of this transfer. Who knows what will happen. Rumors are that the Riverside and Mt. Rubidoux zones will combine, I could leave or stay. I can't wait for Saturday Night so that we will find out the lowdown. Until next time...

Elder Jewkes

I personally didn't feel the earthquake. Some of the sisters in our district did and they were a little scared. What!?!?! You had rain. You stole it from us! I hope that the back surgery goes well. No baptism yet, but there is one on the way. June 26th. Transfers aren't over yet but I heard rumors about it all. It helps to be friends with the ZL's and AP's. There was some furniture moving on Friday... but I was on exchanges so I didn't do it (HEHE). It has been hot, but it looks like it will be cool for the rest of the week. (and by cool. I mean High 80's) It is never really "cool" here except at night in the winter.

10 June, 2016 - Earthquake 10June16

10 June 2016

Dear Brother and Sister Jewkes,

As you may have heard, we had an earthquake in southern California early this morning. It registered 5.2 on the Richter Scale and caused no damage of which we are aware.  All missionaries are present and accounted for.  It was centered outside of the California Riverside Mission to the southeast.

Again, we write to let you know that we have taken precautions to have our missionaries prepared for emergencies in a variety of ways. Earthquakes stronger than 5.5 on the Richter Scale, which may cause damage, are rare. Smaller quakes, such as the one today, typically cause no damage and only prompt conversation about who felt them.

Again, we assure you that if we have any larger earthquakes that may be cause for concern we will write to keep you informed.  In the event that communication or transportation becomes a problem in a serious emergency, we have each of the seven stakes in the mission apprised of missionary locations in their stake so that stake emergency personnel in the more immediate vicinities can quickly respond and check on missionary safety.

Again, we express our gratitude for sharing Elder Jewkes with us in the missionary work of the California Riverside Mission and want you to know that his safety is our highest priority.

Faithfully Yours,

President John H. Mullen and Sister Jana L. Mullen




***Ben said he did not feel anything. We were in Disneyland at the time, at it did wake me up!

6 June, 2016 - The summer is on!!!

...Interesting flavor

Lamborghini!

Dear Family and Friends,

Well, summer has officially hit here in Riverside, UCR is out for the summer, most of the other schools are as well. We hit 100's this past weekend and doesn't look like it will cool down anytime soon. Luckily, I'm in car this summer and not biking in Hemet. Anywho...

Wednesday- we had our DDM since we had service on Tuesday, then we were in the office until like 4 or 4:30, went contacting and had dinner with a PMF (The Jurl's). We had a teaching appointment with the Jurl's neighbor so they came with us, but they weren't home. Maybe next time I guess. Then we came home to plan.

Thursday- we had MLC. Fun part of being office elder is that I don't have to sit in a 6 hr meeting, just put all the requested supplies together, get the 28" pizzas and clean up after. It is boring because the meeting ended at 4pm and we don't have anything to do after lunch to 4pm. Then after we ran to Jurupa to bring Sis. Holyoak a chair that will help her recover from back surgery. The second chair we brought for her. we didn't get back until dinner then we went contacting after dinner. Then came home and planned.

Friday- was the Trainer-Trainee meeting. That one was only 3 hours so it wasn't as bad, plus there wasn't that much for us to set up anyways. After lunch and office work, we went home to do our weekly planning, but got interrupted because it was dinner time (always worth it to interrupt). Then as we were going to leave to see the Pasillas... they rescheduled for Saturday...after rescheduling on Tuesday for Friday.

Saturday- we had a blitz for the Canyon Crest sister with no luck for them. I felt so bad, 1.5 hours with 15 missionaries walking in one area, no potentials. Maybe we'll do another blitz for them soon. Then we had permission to give an Elder a ride to a baptism for the Orange Crest ward. They had their first baptism in 3 1/2 years! It's crazy to think that it's Pres. Mullen's ward. So there were like 6 missionaries who taught this guy named Chet. It was crazy. Then we were able to finish weekly planning and eat dinner, then go home and plan.

Sunday- was Fast Sunday. No investigators came but it was still good. Raymond didn't show up to church so we need to reschedule his interview with Pres. Grant sometime this week if he wants to get baptized on the 12th. We might need to push it back a week, but if that means a good turn out, defiantly worth it. After church we ate dinner (because we were "wasting away" from no food) and went contacting for the rest of the night and planned and prayed that we would survive cross fit today.

It has been a fun week, next time I will tell you how Cross-fit went and more. Until next time...

Elder Jewkes




 Yay! Disneyland! It is so sad to see how close I am to Disneyland, but it's ok. One more year. It is crazy to see how fast times fly. It's already summer. At least for now I am not in Hemet for the summer...yet. Who knows.

***Please note that he did, indeed, get sent to Hemet for the summer...again!!!!