Jeremys surgery in photo form.

First of three waiting areas starting at 2:00pm. Mad because he wants WATER.

Madder because there is a tap in the room and we still won't let him have WATER!

We each had to take our turns holding and diverting because he would try to climb the counters and push chairs to get to the WATER!

You guessed it he came up out of the anesthesia wanting Water and yelling it at the top of his lungs.

Now we fight a new fight keeping him from pulling all the IV's out and the sat monitor lines off. And if only he would have eaten all those wonderful pancakes he is buttering so nicely.



The pain medicine made him kinda silly so he hammed up for the camera and was goofy the next day.


I am outta here, gonzo, goodbye, say la vista. I am going to get me a real lookin diesel toy because I was so good at doing my surgery to fix my trachea scar hole and have it all revised and get all my teeth cleaned and prettied up.

Tzaneen WOW

1. Does your companion have big family support or none?
1.He only has brothers and sisters left and one of his brothers is on a mission.

2. Remember Nathan Roberts is serving in Zimbabwe did they ever meet I know that is a total long shot but you never know this world gets smaller every day.
2.No he doesn’t know Nathan.

3. So do you get to eat fresh avocados and mangoes and bananas and paw paws and Litchi fruit?
3.Well it's kinda sad because mangos aren't ready until December but there are avocados, but I don't like avocados. But bananas I have eaten so it's really nice. They have a banana here they call Sweet Banana's. THEY ARE SOOOOO GOOD! Pawpaw’s are growing but their not ripe yet and Litchis aren't in season, But I will hopefully be here for a lot of that. Oranges are in season along with lemons and other stuff.

4. Is the fruit good?
4.yes

5. What kind of house do you live in this time?
5.It's a flat. We are being kicked out at the end of July though... Don't ask me why, I really don't know

6. What are you doing to dissipate that you are Satanists in the eyes of the village of Motupa
6. Well mostly we have tried to serve others at every opportunity that we get. It's been tough but the church is still growing.

7. So when you get discouraged are you going to read D&C 122 or maybe 2 Nephi 32:7
7. I'll get back to you on that one.

8.So now are you going to try learning Sotho I understand many speak this in that area.
8.I Am trying to learn a little Sotho. It's been nice because I know a little Tswana from Soweto and Sotho and Tswana are really similar.

9. Just so you know I would love one of the African Eternal Families made from wood or whatever.
9.......
10. So is this Mutopa close to Mozambique on the map it looks that way except it is spelled with an a not a u so I just wondered.
10.If it is the Motupa near Tzaneen then yes, but Mozambique is still pretty far away.

Are you the senior companion?
11. This is a very strange question which I will answer... I have been on mission longer then him, but I don't know if I'm senior companion or not.

Do you want us to send boxed food to you ever?
12.What kind of boxed food? If it's stuff I can get here then no, but if it's stuff I can't then yes.

Tell one faith promoting story from the week.
13.Well I can just say that this whole experience in Tzaneen has been faith promoting. I've been able to really focus on our work with Elder Makosa and as we have done everything we know we can. We have seen a ton of success. We've found people who are genuinely interested and have even showed it by attending church even when they have little or no money for transportation. People have been calling us for the free books and dvd's that we give and we have seen a lot of good. It goes to show that when you do your part, god DOES his.

Well for the week it's been faith building and we are making great progress with our branch. We just had an official Group Formed in Motupa with a group leader called and counselors called. So we now no longer preside over the meetings in Motupa, But I was just called to be the Branch Clerk here and given the responsibility of Training a member of the church on how to be my assistant Even though I don't have a clue how to do that. (this will take effect next Sunday. Eventually this member will be the clerk when I leave and he is currently the ward mission leader which we are training him to be as well. The reason for all of this is so that we can help him to gain confidence in himself and allow us, the missionaries, to attend ward council meetings to help the work even more. It's a crazy three ring circus here in Tzaneen, but things are improving. The work is improving and we may soon be branching out into other villages around.
Well I was thinking the other day about the times when we see people progress the most and those times were when we taught families that read their scriptures, prayed together and, had weekly family home evening. And as I was thinking about all of this stuff, I was thinking about how those are things that our family used to do all of the time but slowly stopped doing. I don't know how well you have been doing recently but I wanted to add the challenge for everyone reading this to begin doing so tonight and then continue to do daily. I know that it may be hard to organize things like that with all the crazy kids but if you give little assignments to them it will help them be motivated.

A Family Home Evening program should go something like this

Welcoming to family home evening, including an overview of the following (by person conducting)

Opening Hymn (2-3 Min)

Opening Prayer

Spiritual/Scripture thought (1-2 min)

Short lesson on a gospel topic. (10-20 min)

Fun Game (10-20 min)

Closing hymn

Closing Prayer

Refreshments

This is a commitment for each of you to follow weekly. I will be following up to see how things go and this commitment extends to all of my family and extended family. If you are going to do this please let me know through e-mail. I know that it is the way to go if you want to raise strong families and gain trust between husbands and wives, parents and children. I love each of you very much and am grateful for the prayers.

Love Elder Jones

Dear Elder Jones
This letter is from a young man who was in your area just last year. He stated at that time there were only 20 members and that it was hard, I really like what he says at the very end of his letter about hard and easy. Be prepared Dad says for the dry spell now that you have not been thirsty in teaching but we also know you and your determined spirit to not let anything get you down. Plus you can think up the craziest ways to get people’s attention. This Elder also talks in other letters about how a more shall we say enthused companion made it easier after getting a transfer change for a new companion. Well I am sure this week has been very different since that last few months new learning and getting to know the area. I hope that it has been lots of fun. This week I am starting to feel like a beat up run over mother. The boys have way more energy then me and Z is on creation mode twenty-four seven. So we have a pool made out of scrap boards and the little blue chairs but I do not think it will hold water. If he is in the house then he has huts going and makes walls to keep Buddy bear pined in which of course will not work. He dumps the laundry every time I get it in the buckets and swims in it because without fail its everywhere all the time. K is so bored it’s pitiful. He picks on Z one min and then they are the best of friends. He would stay on a horse all day if he could. Mc of course gets lost in his computer games and then we finally have to limit him on how much time he can spend doing that. C is forever in motion again until he hits the bed. Some days I wonder if the house will be standing when they all grow up. On Wed we went to peewee 4-H and the deck door was left open well Jer screamed at C to get that snake out now. Sure enough a rather medium sized blow snake took off behind the TV and down into a crack where trim needs to be put back on. The boys tried to stay up till 2 am getting it to come out and then it disappeared total and never came back out so it’s either found a way out or lost inside there still. They are a lot better about getting the screen door to shut now.
Today we got to see the twins and they are sososososos cute. I will get the pictures sent next week because I still have to load them and it's really late and I want you to at least have a letter from us. They moved back to Utah and are in limbo till their house can be closed from the building permitting and bank stuff they have to do.
Please fast for Jer he will be having his surgery on Tue afternoon as long as tomorrows history is cleared by the people who put him to sleep. Dad can't come with me this time because he has gotten it off so many times and then it's canceled and this time everyone is out of town on vacation so there isn't anyone to trade the shifts with. But Papa, Uncle Jathan, Uncle Shane and and Dad all gave him a blessing and I felt really peaceful
J managed to kill her car by shifting into 1st going 30 miles and hour she thought that was how she needed to gear down to stop at a stop sign. She either tore out the clutch or ripped the transmition to pieces. At least it was Dad that was with her so they could know how to get it off the road. She goes to girls camp in the morning and so she says to tell you she loves you but she is short on time as her an Tasha are right now trying to gather all the gear they need
Mc goes on a hike the day after Jer. surgery so Lori has to come get him because I bet I won't be back yet. They are making us stay over night for observation after the surgery is over.
Brother Larry and Sister Pam Gay are going to serve a mission in Mascow Russia, even Kathrine Howell will be speaking Russia on her mission to the Ukraine. Jer is getting to be rather bossy and very spoiled with his attitude. Primary was rough someone gave their class tootsie rolls and he wanted one he wouldn't let up at all I finally had to leave with him so they could say the prayer. Well I better get this sent out so that you can have a bit of news and smile about our crazy week.

Fathers Day what a Day!

1. Have you noticed fewer homeless children and people on the street. This is an issue that has come to my attention from some comments that were made by other people that they just move the problem people out until the huge nation event is over.

1. Well I'm not really sure because I haven't seen to many homeless people on the streets except for a few here and there. You have to remember I haven't been in mainland Joburg much.

2. So do you count a mission start date from the time you leave the mission home or the home that you live in from your birth?

2.You count your mission from the day you started the MTC

3. Some money will be in account soon for warm clothing like Mon or Tue ok. We heard that it can get really cold there at times.

3.don't worry to much about the money for warm stuff now. I got it sorted out and the place I'm in is much warmer then where it was

.4. Were you able to fit all your old and new paraphernalia in your suitcases?

4.Yup, and I condensed everything down to two cases and a crate.

5. Do you long for a hand written letter from us? If so why does it make us seem more there

5.No e-mail is good enough. I do wish that other people would write me letters more often or dear elders or something. P.s. You should ask Emily on facebook if she got my last letter or not because I haven't heard from her in a while now.

6. What is your favorite part of a mission Day. The scripture reading or the exercising in the morn or the tracting What?

6. Well that's a good question. I really like to study in the morning, but you have more adventures when your out Proselyting

Well this week has been great. I am now in an area called Tzaneen (za-neen). It is a five hour drive from the mission office and it is in the top right corner of South Africa in the Province of Limpopo. THIS PLACE IS SWEET!!!!!!!!! It's just like you would imagine the African jungle....Kinda. Anyway. The place is SUPER green and we live in the mountains. Tzaneen is actually a town with streets and a mall and what what, But some of the area we work is a village called Motupa and that is directly in the mountains where there is tons of green trees(mango trees, Banana trees, Litchi Trees, Paw paw trees, Orange trees and a whole lot of others. Only a few are in season tho) and farms and stuff. You would be jealous Dad.

I wish I could send pictures but my reader thing is messed up so I have to get a new one some time, but when I do it will be way cool.

Now as for the work. It's a little tough. We are working in a very small brach with about 30 or so members and a group with about 10 or eleven out in the village of Motupa. The saints here really show their faith because most of them have to walk/or find transport for quite a distance, from where they stay to get to church. And in the Village of Motupa there is a lot of persecution going around about how we are satanists or something like that, but they are holding strong. Soon this place is going to have two booming branches. So far for the week, I've seen monkeys twice and that's about it for cool animals. I guess there is a reserve not to far from here that we will have to go check out that has Elephants and stuff.

I now have a new companion. His name is Elder Makosa and he is from Zimbabwe. He is a very humble guy and is always smiling or laughing about something.

I don't have much to write about yet, but this is just the beginning of my adventures in Tzaneen. I'll send some pics to show you the differences in the two areas.

Love Elder T. Jones

P.S. I hope you had the most awsome of Fathers days Dad!!!......That is after all the crazy horse stuff happend.

The weekly news if I can keep track of it all.

I ran 4 miles and walked one yesterday. Mc did get up and go 2 miles with me that morning that we wrote last and he of course ran circles around me. He would go slow and then fast and then stop and pass me. He is so fast and getting faster as his legs seem to get longer. He is almost as tall as C which is kind of crazy to say because C had grown at least 3 inches and is as tall as J. This drives her nuts, she so wants to be taller but that's not going to happen ever. She did her first horse show and won all the speed events. Big K was gone and I think she's going to be her biggest competition this year. Mc didn't compete and drove us crazy so we made it clear that he has to compete or stay home and babysit because he was so wild that night and helped all the other little boys be all wild too. The next day we rode in a fundraiser for a police officer who died in the line of duty here and they both tied for second place in one of those extreme rides ( which really wasn't that extreme)K won a Bullies dinner prize and J got 59 bucks at Burns and Mc 25 at Pepperbelly's. Hobbles would not get in the horse trailer at the end for nothing and Arab went right in. It wasn't our trailer so we are not sure why he had a spaze attack except it wasn't his. I did the Scout day camp and got sunburned beyond belife. It was the first really nice sunny day to me. We have a garden in the back yard which is all starting to come up now. The new FFA teacher came and looked at J and C's projects for next summer. J finally has a red steer that she is going to show at the fair. C's is black. J is the only one who is doing sheep this year. C told me he wanted to about a week ago and that's just a bit to late since we already weighed the others in at the first of May.

A side note someday when you get to see You Tube again there is the coolest clip that goes along with Jeffery R. Hollands talk Good things to Come, that has your very own cousin's baby as the portrayed baby in the clip. It is about him telling about his family and a hard time and that if you just hang on to the Gospel good things will come some time. Maybe not here on this earth but sometime. It is really inspirational. Duty to God award is a special thing that all the boys and C got to earn up at the camp. Not many earned it but he did. He will have to tell you what he had to do to get it but he was very please with himself for getting it. He said at first he hated the camp but as time went on he adjusted and came to accept the tight rules and structure that they made them deal with. It was not a fun and games kind of camp, it was all about leading and learning and stress too and how to deal with hard stuff in life. He also got to know Brother Jensen at Timberline.For Fathers day we had to have Dad get a rude wakening. C and I had gone for a walk and decided to get the chores done before we went home. When we got there we could not find Kalif and Hobbles anywhere. Khalif's gates were kicked to pieces and pretty much turned inside out and over. All the mares were out. So C started feeding and I went up to the Dairy barn, no horses. All of a sudden there were the two with their butts facing each other and not moving at all. We found them tangled in the fencing gate that attaches to the far field, for Kalif it was with wire wrapped around his leg holding him there and Hobbles almost through the fence with his front legs. I called Dad saying hurry get wire cutters and run down the railroad track. The dumb things were so cut up and Hobbles is going to have to be watched because it wire cut right on his back hock pretty deep, though he isn't yet limping. Then we found a pipe cracked in the basement leaking water all along the outside wall. We all hurried to get ready for church and then Dad shut the water down. After Church you guessed we glued repairs of pipe together. And our lunch meal was cake and ice cream since I had no water to cook with. We had planed to do breakfast in bed but that went out with the horse adventure. Next years play at Snow college will be Seussical the musical isn't that kind of familiar territory.

Well on a spiritual note. C was advanced to a Teacher today and seems lots more grown up since attending Timberline. He actually hopes that he gets an invite to be on staff. And he in the end didn't want it to end as he learned so much about himself. I hope that he will keep reading his Book of Mormon and also help us all to get back into doing that since it has been turned upside down lately. I pray that you are well that you are growing an even stronger testimony daily and that you can see the work of the Lord in your life now and even in the future as he guides and directs you to be a tool in his hands. This of course only comes when you allow that to be a part of your life which I am sure is happening right now for you. I love you very much and hope that your transfer was all that you had hoped for. Love Mom,

Dad says keep praying and learning all that you can.

Helping Others

If you really want to help someone

with a very easy cause

Just click this link

and hit her vote button

it's that easy to do.

We can all do something to help another even if it's very small.

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Mighty Hunters.

One morning boy awoke to find several of his chickens killed and some of his eggs sucked out with only the shells left. He is the one who does the chicken chores the best and the most. He was rather upset to see his hard work all torn apart. For three days they all watched to see if more would disappear. The coop was shored up and the nets were checked and the door had a big tire placed so that it could not be bumped open if those were the ways that the mystery animal were sneaking in and then the day arrived that the Dad yelled bring me a gun while he was watering our field. This is the look of returning hunters who had found the animals that were getting their chickens. J and Mc look happy to be done with that very protective mission they had to embark upon even if they wouldn't carry their bounty to show that they had conquered the kill.

The two sneaking varmints stunk shall we tell you that they were skunks!!!!

4 Years and counting more.

He reached a his 4 year mark, Wahoo.

He shared his cake with his cousin Cody.

He had to make sure his candle was lit before we sang or it was not official in his eyes.

He even wore a crazy hat and had a super fun day,

Can't stand the suspence wondering if you are transferred?

1. Camera card fixed? Do you need a new one?
1. The card works but I have to get a new converter thing to send pics with it.

2. What new thing have you seen that you would never see in America?
2. Well, I've seen alot of things now and I've kinda become desensitized to it so I can't think. But you usually see people cooking chicken legs over bry stands on the street alot.

3. What scriptures did you read that made you feel closer to the Lord this week?
3. Well a good one that I read recently that shows the importance of following what you learn in life was Helaman 7: 23-24

4. One crazy thing that your companion did that you were not expecting.
4.I haven't really been with Elder Bakker long enough to say anything crazy has happened but I'll have to tell you some good stories later on.

5. Where is Elder Bakker from and how many in his family?
5.Elder Bakker is from Idaho. He has a mom a dad a twin brother (not identical) and a sister.

6. Did you follow where the Lord wanted you to go at some point this week, after making it a matter of prayer and or fasting?
6.Yeah we have actually done alot of that lately. We have decided to focus our efforts on Braamfischerville and Extention 2 Dobsonville.

7. Tell us one thing that you miss from home that they do not have there.
7. One thing that I miss Hmm........ I don't miss home! J/k well the things that I miss are stuff that you do. Like horse riding and other stuff you can't do on a mission.

8. So what are you doing with the calling card that won't work over there?
8.It's just sitting in my drawer

9. They post the newsletters several months after to the mission page like the one on now is March so tell us about Benjamin Moepudi did he get baptized or what?
9. Well Bro Benjamin is someone that I didn't really teach, but he was baptized when I was there. He was the arch bishop of a church here in South Africa and he realized some things were wrong. He found the church through his son who served a mission in Madagascar but is now living in California. He investigated and found it was the true Church. Wait for the story it's better.

10. How many have you personally taught and then seen through to baptism?
10. Haven't been counting, and don't really want to so stop asking. But I have baptized people I started teaching. (sorry I was trying to clarify as he asked me in the last letter.)

Yeah it's been pretty crazy with world cup going on but it was mostly during the first game between Bafana Bafana and Mexico. I think a tie was a good outcome especially for the missionary work to keep going. (I have some pics. I will send them next week probably)

Well transfer news came on Saturday and I found out I am leaving. But there is a catch... I don't have a clue where I'm going. Know one does. and I won't find out until the day I leave. I was just told to pack and show up to transfers. I was kind of upset to get that news because I don't feel prepared to leave here especially with a lot of baptisms coming up that I personally worked to get while I was working alone with member missionaries. I was especially sad because of the Diseko family.... MAN I LOVE THAT FAMILY!!!! But there is a great story to tell about them. I hope I can describe how awesome it was in a simple letter. Yesterday, My last Sunday, we set an appointment to meet them. The father had come to church finally and I was way excited about that. On our way there we were discussing what we would teach. Our first plans were to teach about Tithing and Fasting, but we felt that wasn't right so we taught Baptism and Confirmation. It was an awesome lesson and we taught in the dark because the power was out as usual. After the lesson I extended a commitment that had been extended many times before. I said "will you prepare to be baptized and confirmed?" To my great surprise The father was the first to say yes.... Right then and there I was so surprised that I didn't know what to say or what had just happened. Elder Bakker eventually repeated the question and Brother Diseko replied " Isn't that the main goal?" I almost fell out of my chair! After hearing this I asked if the family would like to set a goal to be baptized together and they all agreed to August 8. To make it short we took some pics because I was leaving but I'm so glad that I had the chance to be there for that. It helped me feel prepared to leave and I feel like I've done what I was meant to do here. I'm going to have to continue to pray for them but I know they will make it. Man they have helped my testimony to grow so much. I can't really explain how I feel, but I will definitely be sending pictures home.

Because of time I have to go, but I love you all and keep doing what's right.

Elder Jones

Dear Son who is far away and serving the Lord with all his might sacrificing to find and even grow his and others testimony's each and every day.

WORLD CUP crazy stuff, Dad and some of the boys watched the opening ceremonies, then on the news Fri. night we laughed about an elephant that made the US team late to play because it caused a traffic jam. So it must be just wild crazy over there with all the goings on for the Games. One guy is from the Real Salt Lake team lucky guy. Mc has been begging me to get him a new soccer ball. We are trying to decide whether he should play football or soccer since he is in 6th now. Uncle Shane will not be coaching that team because he has been moving with the team that is in 8th now. I finally reached my goal with bonus of 144.0 I got a new dress for the effort and still can't reach 3 miles running yet but it will come I am sure. Rhett will be graduating Marines next week so I am sending the last letters from the past month to him on Mon. He got the highest honorers for rifle shooting and did apply to be a sniper so I guess nobody better mess with a gun around him. The Jones family reunion is this weekend down in the bottoms but I am not sure many will come all the brothers are gone now of Grandpas and his one sister that is alive will be having a surgery so she won't be here. Supposedly on the 29th is the surgery for Jer again. We will see if they go forward again. We went to see his Dr. on Thursday and he thinks we should see the lung Dr. again just to make sure that there is lung tissue growth after the last three years has passed. I know they won't do a CAT scan because he already had two but it sure makes me wonder if they will be able to see changes on that little tiny xray they usually do. On this Dr. chart he could finally see growth where there has not been any over the last year that we had seen him so that's good. Little K is finally off the oxygen in the day but not at night. They are still being really careful. The weather turned off cold again with lots of rain but Sat I made the most of it and did my first 3 mile run in between rain down pours. It felt pretty good to accomplish that and to know that I can. I am thinking the Milk Run might be reachable now. C leaves to go to Timberline really early in the morning and Mc asked if he could go running with me in the morning so we will see if he can get out of bed to go with me. Brent spoke today in sacrament meeting today and told about his Hero Samuel the Lamanite and how he was often teaching alone. You could feel his spirit as he spoke about some people that he was able to touch while teaching the gospel. He comes to our ward most likely because of Tiffany. I forgot to tell you that her whole family went through the temple a few months ago. Nothing really exciting is happening but next week C will be ordained a teacher if Dad isn't called into work. Remember his Birthday. He won't even be here for his birthday so I wonder if they will make a party up there at Timberline for him. He is really getting good at preparing to camp its been fun watching him get ready today. J is doing the driving part now but I keep having to go take her over in the morning and we miss the teacher twice now. Yesterday K about killed the car by catching the charger cords into the fan belt. We were lucky that he hurried to turn it off when it sounded funny and learned a big lesson in not doing something that is for big people to do. Dads work hours started to pick up this last week just when he was wanting to go horse riding. The little boys did peewee 4-H and K did pretty good. Even B took Star and got her to do some of the stuff. Well we are all waiting to hear if you are staying or going to a new place in South Africa the news should be enlightening to us. Have a wonderful week of spreading the light and keep smiling did your card get fixed we need to see some photos of something new.
Love the Family