Steve Jones

1978-1980

I am a convert to the Church.  When I was 17 years old I had a tennis player friend who invited me to play on the Church basketball and softball team and then invited me to some of the Church dances.  I really enjoyed playing on the teams and enjoyed my new friends in the Church.  I admired the way they conducted themselves and the way they lived their lives.  After a while they invited me to come to Church which I really enjoyed.  The missionaries taught me the discussions and I was soon thereafter baptized in the Church in 1975.  It was a little tough on my mother who was spending a lot of time and money grooming me to be a pro tennis player but she allowed me to make this decision to be baptized.  I had a lot of choices of colleges that wanted me as a tennis player but I chose to walk on at BYU in 1976.  This was one of the best decisions I have made in my life.  I had some amazing roommates that were a huge influence in my life.  One of them recently returned from being the mission president in Peru.  I played on BYU's tennis team for 2 years then decided to go on a mission.  I did not have a lot of time in the Church and did not feel prepared to serve but I was really excited about serving.  When my call came I needed to get the atlas out to find out where Bolivia was (I asked my roommate if Bolivia was by Romania).  I was super excited about going and serving.  My first area in Bolivia was Llellagua.  This was a 7 hour trip that I took alone my second day in Bolivia.  Elder McCarver was my first companion.  When I arrived he took me to our room.  When I arrived I asked him where the bathroom was.  He escorted me around the corner to a small 4 x 4 shed and called it a launching pad.  I said OK but where is the shower.  He said we do not have a shower.  He said that we hike once a week on p-day to a hot springs bath.  Talk about culture shock!  I is was a fairly new member of the Church out on a mission in the middle of nowhere Bolivia.....I was really struggling with the language and felt very alone.  If you could have asked me three years earlier that I would be a Mormon serving a mission in a small tin mining town in Bolivia in three years I would have said you were crazy.  One thing I did want and that was to work hard and give 110% on learning to be the best missionary I could.  My companions quickly found out that I was serious about my mission and that I was there to work hard.  I am not sure how many years the Church had been establised in Llelluagua but it could not have been long.  We met in a building that used to be a bar.  It was small and the missionaries ran the Branch there.  We had maybe 10 people at Church on Sunday's.  I lost 20 pounds the first 3 months because I had a very hard time getting use to the food.  I loved those first 4 months of my mission.  I grew and learned a lot!  

May last area of the mission was in Calacoto.  I lived with the Vargas family.  I remember an experience there that I will never forget.  They may seem insignificant to many but not for me.  Very close to the end of my mission we were teaching a very humble family.  I gave the father my suit.  We became close with this family and they were baptized in the Church.  On my last Sunday they came to Church with a dozen eggs and gave them to me.  I remember getting up on that day to bear my testimony.  I was very emotional when speaking because of the gesture given to me from this family and the fact that this was my last fast and testimony meeting in Bolivia.  After the meeting a 16 year old girl came up to me and said that this was the first time that she had felt to spirit in her life and thanked me for helping her to understand what the spirit felt like.  This touched my heart and is something I will never forget.  These type of seemingly insignificant experiences are what I appreciated the most from my mission.  My mission formed the foundation for my life.  It anchored me in the Gospel and has helped me to make good decisions throughout my life.  I loved my experience in Bolivia and have always been grateful for my mission.  President Hill was an awesome Mission President!  I really am grateful for his dedicated work and his love for his missionaries.  I always felt that he had my back and that he loved me as an missionary and as a person.  I had some great companions that really helped me grow and learn.

After my mission I finished my studies at BYU and graduated in 1983 in Construction Management.  After graduation I went back home and met my wife soon thereafter.  I was married in the Los Angeles temple in 1984.  I have 4 kids and 4 grand children.  I was born and raised in Southern California and still live and love the Southern California area.  I just retired from the construction industry in January.  I am currently serving as the Ward Mission Leader for the 3rd time in our Ward in Los Alamitos California and serve as an ordinance worker in the Los Angeles Temple.  I had the chance to serve and a Branch President of a Spanish speaking Branch of the Church in our stake for 5 years so I got a chance to brush up on my Castellano about 6 years ago.  I have a love for fly fishing (I do a lot of traveling all over the world with my fly rods).  I also love to golf and lawn bowl (I will have to tell you more about this lawn bowling thing at the reunion).  I have a handicapped 27 year old child that will be our companion for life.  I am enjoying taking care of him and participating in raising our 4 grand kids.  

I can't wait to share experiences and to catch up on our lives at the reunion.

Steve Jones

Wayne Johnson Scott Woodbury