Dec 14, 2015

So I biked in downtown Chicago again.  I love that. We were riding and like halfway through the day my back brakes went out so I was on the fronts all day. On our last stretch to the church (literally across the street) I was riding hard and didn't see the turn and I laid on my brakes to make it and my back end went whoop!! Haha and I was on the ground with cars going vroom!!! All around me so... It was pretty cool I guess.  I didn't get hurt so lucky me.
Here are pictures of my new companion (the short hispanic one) and some other guys in the district downtown Chicago.


Dec 7, 2015

Hey! So this week was fun:) lots of stories which is good! Also the work is finally rolling with me and Elder Peralta working hard. So next Monday we plan to go downtown Chicago and bike it again! There are tons of lights strung up downtown Chicago and it's supposed to be awesome right now! And they deck out one of the train lines into Santa's sleigh and don't even use it during the holidays.  On to the week.  We went to English class in the morning on Tuesday with the other elders. They were having a little fiesta for all the people and their "progress" and everything so there was food and sharing time in English! ;) so we didn't actually teach anything but we weren't complaining;) after that we went out and contacted a whole bunch of inactive members and old investigators.
Wednesday we went and did some "service" with the Lomas family and OH MY GOODNESS IT WAS SO FUN!!! they are from.... South America:) and speak Spanish but just like the Lovatos they go to the English ward.  We met them at the Lovatos one time and Hermana loved us and so now we visit them too and they're great:)  We went there to put up their Christmas tree with them!  They cooked us burgers and we rearranged her whole garage while jamming out and having a dance off to Disney songs:) so much fun!! There was this guy there who was like 20 and a good family friend he offered to cook the burgers and was like super wannabe chef and was asking everybody how they wanted them done?  literally we had to eat two burgers that were more pink than brown... So
the next day Peralta looks up salmonella and E. coli and stuff on the Internet and we have been joking about it all week.
We had an appointment with a family that lives really close to us for dinner and while we were there they asked if we would help them move their two old couches and kitchen table outside and move their new stuff in because they just got new furniture right? So it was drizzling a little bit and when we finish we are sitting inside on their new stuff and I asked them what they were doing with the old stuff and Hermana goes, "basura elder" and I was like we can have the couches? :) and she was like of course!! So Hermano jumps up and is like let's hurry! And so we all start rushing around outside getting the van ready and then loading one in the van and we made two trips, and it starting dumping way hard in the middle of this, to our house and theirs and back and got the new couches and a million pillows into our apartment and I gave a lesson at their house and it was way cool:)  So we get home and spend the next like 3 hours rearranging and cleaning our place! We went to bed late because we were so in the mood to clean that we just didn't stop! I have some pics of before and after that I will send but we cleansed the place:) and we threw one of our old couches out on our back patio and the smaller one in the dumpster and now our apartment is just bomb:) While we were cleaning we looked at this bag in the corner that I have never touched before (cuz why would I?) that I thought was just empty and we found a Christmas tree!! It's like a foot and a half tall and I love it:) Elder Limon's trainer left it here months ago apparently and now it's mine for the holidays:) and Peralta got a package this week and in it was a Christmas tree of his own and a bunch of stuff to decorate with so he gave me some and my tree is so cute now:) I will send pics! But I have a tree!!!!! :) I am so excited! I didn't think I'd have a real one for Christmas:) granted its not real... But still:)

-Elder Jones