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.