Week 32 Menorca is fun!

August 18, 2014

Menorca is fun!

Hi everyone, Elder Jonson here, this week has been fun!!  To start off a fun little experience Elder Dixon and I had yesterday.  We started sacrament meeting as normal, we were seated on the "stand" to bless the sacrament.  The Branch President got up and gave the announcements and we sang the opening hymn.  He got up gave the little talk of branch business and sat down and the sacrament hymn started playing.  He then leaned over to my companion and said something.  Elder Dixon then turned to me with a grimace and said, "Well, we've got talks."  So we blessed the sacrament and I got up first while he went back and translated for some English tourists and then we switched.  We literally had about 4 minutes to think about what we were going to talk about.  Not something that happens every day!  But I guess it went ok because nobody said anything and when you talk about Jesus, mixed with sharing scriptures you can't go wrong...Anyway, gotta love mission life!!  

In other news the work here is great, we have been having a lot of member visits recently and it apparently has been helping because we are getting more and more people in church!!!  Hopefully the work continues forward!!!  Anyway I hope you all have a great week like the one I'm going to have!  Remember to be strong and of good courage and the Lord will help you in any challenge!

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Con Amor,

Elder Jonson

Week 31 Heat and humidity!

August 11, 2014
 
Wow this week has been hot!!!  The other day I got out of the shower and just kind of gave up on drying off...maybe that's why old Spanish men don't wear deodorant....anyway!  This week has been great!  We got to visit a lot of the members and go to Palma for a Specialized Training!  Elder Dailey is my new district leader and he is training so it was fun to meet more people ‘younger’ than me in the mission!  About the trip though, recently the mission secretary has told us to be 2 hours early to our flights so we don't miss them.  Here in Menorca the airport is quite small so we always come about an hour early.  But this time we decided to follow the guide of our mission secretary.  Our flight departed at 7:05 am so we got up at 4 am and got a taxi at about 5 we got to the airport at 5:10 and IT WASN'T EVEN OPEN!!!!  We had to wait for 20 minutes outside before they opened the doors and until 6 before any employees were there to print off our tickets....needless to say we were rather tired...but when we got to the training it was great and it really was nice to see other missionaries! 

Anyway the attached picture is of my new personalized Avarcas (traditional Menorquin shoes) and they are so great!  They are made of leather and recycled tires.  Kinda fun!  

This week has been full of learning experiences and one of the biggest things I've learned is about Christlike Attributes, I invite all of you to read in Preach My Gospel the Chapter on this because it really can help us all come unto Christ.  I specifically loved the section on Humility. When we are humble we can see miracles.  I testify that is true, because I have seen it happen! I invite all of you to humbly read the Book of Mormon looking for answers and I promise you, you will find what you are looking for. 

Have a great week!

Cuidaos,

Con amor,

Elder Jonson 

Look at my cool 'new' shoes

Traditional Menorquin shoes, "Avarcas"

Can't wait to see Tikal wearing these back home.

Binidali Beach

Week 30 - BAPTISM!!

Tuesday, 8.5.14

This week has been fantastic!!!  We got to go see some of the ruins here on the island that are from before Christ's time and we got to fly to and from Palma for Zone meetings.  But above all:  WE HAD A BAPTISM!!!! 

Here is the excerpt from my letter to the mission president:

This week we had the baptismal service for Margarita! She is so incredible! The way she got in contact with the missionaries was a little bit long but it all started with a contact. Elder Thorpe and I were on an Intercambio (missionary splits) in June and we basically chased down a lady pushing a stroller and got her information. Later, Elder Neumiller(my old companion) and I went back and had a visit with her and taught her the Restoration, she loved it. We tried to get another visit with her but she was always working, and there was very rarely a man in the house so we couldn't enter. Finally, we figured it out, another intercambio rolled around and we were going to be in a trio with Elder Jennings (my trainer.) We went to do the visit and the lady (Dolores) introduced us to her younger sister Margarita. We taught the Plan of Salvation and they both loved it!  We gave Margarita a Book of Mormon and put her on fecha [baptismal date set]. As we continued to pass by[taught] they both accepted everything we taught and two weeks after giving the Book of Mormon to Margarita she was baptized! The testimony Margarita bore at her baptismal service was so splendid. She said that she felt that God was now happy with her and that she felt very happy! She then said that she had felt a part of this happiness two weeks before when she had started reading the Book of Mormon. This experience has reaffirmed one of my favorite phrases: People who read the Book of Mormon, GET BAPTIZED. Menorca is truly an island of miracles!

Margarita is so great!  She is from Equatorial Guinea and she's so incredible. 

In other news, Transfers are today and I'm staying in Menorca.  Elder Dailey [from Tikal’s club soccer team in Lehi] is our new district leader!  He is also training for the first time!  We have another meeting in Palma on Friday even though we had a different one last week.  This one is Specialized Training.  And then to top it off there is a Mini Transfer the 20th.  We've got such a great mission!!

For another fun little story, I'm very proud of three of the young members in this branch.  Jade (11), Ariana (9), and Ario (4) all came to Sacrament Meeting by themselves because their mom (Alejandra) had to work until the third hour.  This family is so incredible!  Everyone here is working like crazy so that when all the tourists go away they'll have money for the winter, it's kind of sad to watch, but people do what's necessary for their families! 

Stay strong in the Church and read the Book of Mormon!!

Con amor,

Elder Jonson

 

Foto:  Just a nice little area here in Menorca

--

Con Amor,

 

Elder Jonson

Ruins from BEFORE Christ's time

This looks a little like Stonehenge.

Baptism of Margarita!

L to R:  Elder Dixon, Tikal, Margarita, Sister & Brother Clark (Full time missionaries from Panguitch, Utah - Tikal mentions them often as being like his parents on the island.)

Week 29- A Tribute to Mothers!

Week 29    7.28.14

Hey everyone, this week has been so great!  We have seen so many miracles!  I want to share a fantastic experience with you guys that we had this week!  As missionaries we kind of get a little nervous when we have to teach certain lessons.  Anyway, we went into a lesson planning to teach about the Word of Wisdom, and our investigator was silent throughout the lesson and at the end she said, “Well I don't drink or do any of those things.  My mom taught me when I was young not to do those!”  The lesson to be learned is, kids, follow the advice of your mothers, and mothers teach your kids well!  We talked about this the other day in church, how the counsel of our mothers is what we hold on to most, so for you teenagers who are a wee bit rebellious (you know who you are) ease up a bit and listen.  And mothers, your kids will turn out fine with your love and council.  Trust them to learn.  Anyway have a great week everyone!

PS  Just a good old preparation day picture.  And a picture from what we saw while working last night.
--
Con Amor,

Elder Jonson

Keeping a safe distance from the beach

Sunset on the island of Menorca