Christmas Letter to Dad

Dear Dad,


Surprise!! (like Stephen on Nacho Libre).  Feliz Natal all the way from Brasil.  I wanted to write you this short letter as one of my Christmas presents to you (I already wrote the other one that you opened earlier this morning).  Anyway, the mission is great.  Whenever times get hard here I always think of you and your determination to work hard and 'do hard things' like you said in your last letter.  It's really true that we have such a huge opportunity to do hard things here. It'll all be over so quickly and we'll look back and be happy that we weren't lazy.  If only every one of our investigators could understand this....


Time has been passing by quickly.  The harder you work, the faster time passes.  I'm grateful for a mission president who is like you too - he is awesome.  I think I"m now starting to understand some of the things you do.  When you do stuff cheap and tacky (you know, in order to save 3 cents or whatnot)...I'm doing the same thing.  It's pretty sweet.  It's kind of weird though because I feel like I'm becoming the same person as you sometimes haha.  I love to read the letters that you send every week and hear that the Lord continues to bless the family with temporal and spiritual blessings.  Sometimes it's hard to believe that we've been blessed so much - sometimes life just seems too perfect.


I'm extremely grateful, more than you'll ever know, for your unwavering example throughout the years.  Whenever I"m working out in the morning, doing push-ups or whatever, I think of what an awesome opportunity we have to 'do hard things.'  Then, when I'm out in the streets and people are doing everything they can to stop me or the work from progressing, I hum 'Let us all press on' in my head and think of the reward that we will receive if we have faith and put our shoulder to the wheel.


This work is amazing.  It is true that every step I take in this work and in my life is very much a part of you and your influence.  In a way, you will be able to serve multiple missions through me, Spencer, and Davis.  I'm so grateful to be your son.  Have an awesome year - I will continue to pray for your success and the family's success.  Thanks for everything.  I love you.


FELIZ NATAL!!!!


Elder Jones