The Brazilian (And Native American Arizona) Adventure: Week 11 August
12--August 17
Dear Family and Friends
Last P-day we went to Gallup to hang out. We went to the mall .
 It was kinda weird being in the mall, I felt like a real person.
Until people started staring and some would turn around when they saw
us, and people would walk away fast when they would see us. So we
almost felt normal, almost. haha It was kinda funny. After the Mall,
we went to the local church building in Gallup and met up with the
local Elders there and we were balling it up. It got intense, these
guys were competitive. It was pretty dang fun.

Last Tuesday, Elder Kay and I went out to our Branch Presidents
 Winn ranch to help him bran some of his cows. That day we
branded about 40 cows. It was so fun. I was so dang tired though. For
some reason those cows don't like to get branded. They had a lot of
energy, they were hard to hold down. But it was a lot of fun. There
was this cowboy on a horse that would lasso the cows and drag
them where we were at and then Elder Kay, like a true Idaho rancher and
like a man, just ran at the cow, grabed it and just flipped it on its
side and then he would grab one of his front legs and sit on its neck
and I would loosen the rope from it's back legs or its neck and then I
would put my foot on one of his back legs and grab the other leg with
my hands and we would hold it down as President Winn fries it's back.
It always smells like steak. The whole time we were doing this, I was
just thinking. "Man it would suck to be a cow." I felt like a real
cowboy, Yeeeeehaaa gitty up gitty up! It was a blast.

I love doing service out here. It is so much fun. And it is truely
amazing how much the peoples hearts soften when you do service for
them. There have been so many times when peoples hearts are soften
through our service. We have been able to get so many Investigators
that way. People really don't care what you have to say until they
truely know you care about them. We have had the chance to prove that
many times. There was this one time when we were trying to go see this
lady that we met the other day who didn't really like mormons and who
had all this misunderstanding about us because of the things that her
church taught her. But we tried dropping by to teach her, but she was
busy cleaning and doing some things at her house and she did not want
to have a religious arguement according to her. So she kinda told us
that she really didn't want to hear us any day. She really didn't like
us or trust us. So before we left we just asked her if we coulc help
with anything, and with a suspiciouse look, she just said that we can
help her son shovel out all these tall weeds in the back with her son.
And without hesitation and to her suprised, we said we would and grab
a shovel and went to work. We worked out there for about a hour and
then we had to go. So we went to the front and were about to get into
the truck and leave. But then the lady, her name is Linda, walk out
side with a big smile and was so happy that we helped, she was so
thankful. She walked rihgt up to us and hugged us and it was so dang
weird. My first hug from a female since I've been on my mission and
it was just weird, I just patted her on the back. haha It was funny,
my companion felt so weird about it too. She said to drop by anytime
to share our message and she ended up liking us. It was awesome.

We went to go teach an Investigator last night and the lesson went so
great. Her name is Tishina. She did seem busy and she did have some
visitors. But we were able to teach her anyway. The lesson was
awesome, the spirit was so strong. We invited her to read the Book of
Mormon and to pray to find out if it was true. She said she would. We
invited her to say the closing prayer and she was shy at first, but
then after a while she decided to say it. She said such an amazing
prayer. The Spirit was intense, and I knew she felt it. She was crying
when she said amen. It was awesome. When we were leaving, we got a
late text from her telling us not to come and that she had company and
so we sent here a text telling her that we were sorry and that we just
got her text. But she text back saying that it was just fine and that
she was so thankful for us to come over and teach her about God. She
told us that she hopes to find out soon which church is right and then
she said that she is pretty sure that it is the LDS church. It was
awesome. I think the Lord didn't let that text come until we were done
teaching her. It was a miracle. A little one, but a miracle. I notice
little things like that all the time. It is amazing how the Lord is so
involved in this work and how much he is helping us out to do the His
work. You can notice a lot of cool things, when you try to look and
notice.

This week was so great. So many doors were opening to us. The people here
are great. Most have a desire to be baptized. They all just have a
problem with the commandments. Especially going to church every
sunday. It is frustrating. The Native Americans are not use to going
to church, so that is their biggest challenge. And to be baptized out
on the reservation, Invastigators need to go to church for all three
meetings 4 times out of 6 Sundays. And the last two have to be in a row.
So it is so hard for them to do that.

This mission is so awesome, I'm learning how to give everything I got
into this mission in every minute in my day. I'm learning how to be a
consecrated missionary, putting everything on the altar of sacrafice.
It is so awesome. I love it. Hope you all are doing great.

Love, The Elder Jones