Missionary tells how to find why baptism is important.

The Mom Says:

I did ask a question last time I just didn't number it so this time I will number them so you know they are questions.

1.So how are you getting on with your companion?

1. I'm getting along well, with my companion.

2.What is he like?

2. Well this is kind of a broad question, but I will answer to my best. He's my first companion who is shorter than me.(by almost less then half an inch though) He smiles all the time. And he can speak Shona. He loves the work and he is a good missionary.

3.How do you handle all the differences that I am sure you are finding with working with many different young men.

3. Well sometimes you just have to swallow your pride and leave it at that for the unimportant stuff, but if there are things where a missionary is out of line then you have to address it.

4.Is there anything that your companion would need that you have and he goes without?

4. Well probably not right now, because we all get the same allotment and stuff. He would probably need help when he gets home though.

5.Are you still learning a language?

5. I'm trying but I haven't been focusing to much on it lately. It's difficult, because there are so many different languages and everyone has a different idea of how to use them. For example you could ask someone how to say hello in Sotho, and then someone else down the road will say you are wrong and try to correct you. It's tough.

6.So do you see cock roaches there and are they in your apartment?

6. We have tons of Cock Roaches. as a matter of fact we just bought some more DOOM today.

7. Have you eaten the other fruits that you mentioned that were not ripe when you arrived there at first?

7.No their not quite ripe yet. We are getting alot of Mulberries around here, but those are at home too. The Mangos are just now starting to grow, but there about the size of a plum and still super green.

8. Max did the baptism go forward?

8. Max isn't scheduled for baptism until the 31st, he is doing great and his wife said if she sees a big change in him, then she will follow but right now she is sticking to her church. It's good, because we are already seeing a great change.

9. Did his family come with him in baptism?

9.answered

10.Have you ever had to pay for extra luggage that you had with you?

10.Nope

11. How much has the branch grown since you have been there?

11.Well we so far have baptized 7 people. and alot of less active members have been coming to church now.

The missionaries return to our letter:

Yo! that's scary, is she doing ok? it sounds like alot of people are getting sick or what what. I hope Brock gets well. Did you know that most of the world doesn't understand what it means to be baptized, but you can find out from the scriptures. Mosiah 18 is a good chapter for that.

I'll tell you, every time I get an e-mail from home it seems like time is just flying by... WOOSH!!. Hearing about Rhett and Justin and my brothers and sisters in high school doing sports and what what. It's crazy!! and I didn't know Cody was old enough to graduate yet. Time just goes to fast, Especially when every second is measured. I've never had to measure time more in my life then on my mission. From the whole two years, to every month, then to the weeks and then to the days, to each appointment and every second. When you are given only so much time to use, you have to use every second of it WISELY.

Well this week was another really great week for our district and for the area. We had four Baptisms in the district and four Confirmations, Unfortunately one who was supposed to be confirmed didn't come to Church so she now has to wait another week, which can get scary. I was told that our District is carrying the zone so we could use lots and lots of prayers from home and maybe even fasting that we can reach our Goals for the coming months(goals of bringing 70 Souls to eternal life). The zone is at 23 and our District is at 12. The trimester ends in Dec and then we start again in January.

Just to give some advice to the members of the stake. It can be pretty difficult for missionaries to follow the rules if the members don't help them. That is something that we are battling with here in Tzaneen sometimes. The members don't really know what is expected of missionaries so they keep asking us to do things that we aren't supposed to do. So help the missionaries out and learn what is expected of them so you can help them live up to that expectation.

Well I love to hear from everyone so keep sending those e-mails

Love Elder T. Jones

P.S. have you heard if any of my friends or people I know have gotten married?

Our letter to the Missionary

Aunt Twila ended up having an appendectomy she was who was in the hospital when Dad got there on the Sat ( he didnt say that I found out from Aunt Terry). We saw the missionaries that week that you asked and C said they came to seminary and then played night games with him and B and Kes over in Monroe, but he was a bit bugged that all they seemed to do was play and not take their curfew hour serious. I have heard of no one from here coming over there to serve. Many of the new Missionary Moms are having their sons go to Durban and Botswana area.This week has settled into a quiet roll of going to school and me riding the bus, doing chores. Mc's team won the soccer championship again and they got cool dog tag awards with a Pepsi hat. So that's two years in a row for him now. C did a really good job playing football the other night and Kevin Anderson said he just loves to watch him play. It reminds him of when you would play and he was the coach way back forever ago. Hopefully today the fire has been put out because it is raining cats and dogs here. There is a lot of controversy over this fire because they could have put it out and it wasn't done. This spring run of is going to put a lot of mud into the ditches and the pipes which is not going to be very fun to keep cleaned out. The mountains are going to have nothing to hold the dirt together with and so who know what its going to be like this spring. Conference was nice to listen to but hard with these noisy boys who do not want to sit still. When you are praying please pray for Uncle Brock. Uncle Brock is pretty laid up because he bumped his leg and got a huge infection and it has made his leg very very swollen. It has Dad worried it is so bad. Papa gave him a blessing that Nana said was very tender and that someday he would look back on this and understand why it had happened. There are loved ones who do not understand why we do baptism in our Church. Rhett is over in Hawaii now and Justin is almost done with prelaw he has two classes left to go. Cody is down at SUU now to. J will be going to homecoming with T which should be interesting since he has a great big cast on his foot and it still hurts a lot. Well the Cabins are done for the year and so I am so grateful that the Lord provided another employment to help us out. Uncle Jathan has been learning to weld so that he could go to work with Brock but it has turned strange from all that is happening to Brock. He has still been going to work with Brocks Boss which has really been very nice to help them a little bit. We had a huge diesel wreck that was carrying Stoffers frozen meals. It crashed up the Marysvale canyon and it filled everyones freezers up. We took lots up to Jathan and Julie and to Aunt Ambers also. We are also praying for that families loss of their father. We begged Papa to please be very careful when he drives also. Well I think that is all the news for this week. I love you very much and hope that your week was amazing and very filled with the Lords work. Oh ya do not worry about what you need to be doing here because it can wait till you get back. The Lord is taking care of that by teaching and tempering you now while you are serving and learning what he wants you to know now.

Those pics you sent remind me of the little boys all working together to carry buckets of water to the horse and now here you are showing us that the skill we taught here is a very usable skill when serving a mission. HEEhee.

Love you with all our hearts love the Mom