Two Latter day Saint views of the Book of Mormon Musical

1.view.  A Latter-day Saint view of Book of Mormon musical  Head of Public Affairs, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Michale Otterson Writes for the Washington Post.
2.view. I used to think that Broadway was so cool.  Yes I once lived in New York and worked there as well, attending a few shows as well during my college years. Well its now not so cool when you think that it has a play that makes fun of the very thing my son has given up two years of his life to serve the Lord in doing good things. Yes he is Elder Jones a Missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and he shares the Book Of Mormon with others in AFRICA.

While serving he has done many Good Things like distributing school supplies at an orphanage, serving a native when his home was destroyed by a hail storm, or carrying buckets of water so that orphans can wash dishes, hands, and clothing. My son did those things this year while serving an LDS mission IN Africa (2009 to2011). This leads me to state that after seeing many reviews but not the play itself, along with noting that I have never liked South Parks shows written by the same authors as this musical I am not ever if given the chance going to waste my time nor money on such a show like this.
I would far rather put money towards a box filled with supplies to help a child read or food that will grow a strong body knowing it will be sent to Africa by the Mormons!

Read this mans review to see another view point by clicking  above on the red link.

I echo the statements he makes and I maintain this same Faithful statement:

We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul-- We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things. Article of Faith:13

Goodbye to one more companion and on to a new one.

Our letter to missionary got lost in Internet land so now he has answered the inquires we made.
Last week's questions:
1. How would you feel if you had to come home two months early from your mission?
1. I would feel very sad.

2. Do you get the Ensign? I would like to send you a few inspirational stories if that is ok to take up the email room if you can print them off tell me if not then I will not take up the space.
2. We get the Ensign. Just point out the ones you would like me to read.

3. Do we fill you with enough news or do you wish you got more news from home?
3.Well it depends on what you mean by news. If it's like world happenings, i really don't care to much. If it's family happenings i like to hear it. And i really like getting pictures from home Alot alot alot!

4. How is Clyde doing now after our many prayers for your investigators?
4. Well it's sad to say but, Clyde has kind of fallen out of the teaching pool. It's like there is a brick wall set up against us now so we don't know what to do.

5.Are there many earth quakes there?
5.Not that I've noticed

6. What kinds of calamities do occur in that land. I know hail is one because of the Mutupa story you told us about the hail ruining that mans home. What about fires???? bush fires or smoke we kind of have heard about.
6. I'm not really sure, we don't hear about alot of those things and if we do it's because someone mentioned it to us, like a member or and investigator or we experienced it which hasn't happened much. We don't read newspapers or watch television or even surf the Internet so yeah.

7. So how is the driving now that you have lived there for over a year?
7. It's going to be weird adjusting back because even when i think of driving at home my brain sees on the left side of the road.

8.Tell us one faithful moment you had this week.
8.Well we had a very nice lesson with a recent convert and a member family. There has been a couple of hectic weeks that the Recent convert has had and it's been rough for her. So we talked about how testimonies can not be taken from us unless it's of our own doing. Then we had a small testimony meeting and everyone was in tears by the end (except me because I'm getting better at not crying during those kind of things.)

9. Have you been told when you would be coming home. We understand that your companion was told a date like 4 months before the time came????????
9. I'm not really told the date, but a transfer cycle happens every six weeks exactly so it's not hard to figure out. There is this thing called a trunky call where Sister Henrichsen calls you and asks questions about who's going to pick you up at the airport and what what so she can get you plane tickets but that's about it.

10. What is the one food you miss and can't wait to eat when you come home?
10. I honestly can't answer that question because i haven't thought about that much.

March 28 2011
From Elder Tyrell Jones
Well this week has been good. We had quite a hectic week We had exchanges Wed-Saturday every day, so Elder Seastrand and i were only together in the morning and at night. But it's totally worth it because we were doing interviews and we had 9 baptisms in the zone yesterday! It's nice to see people receiving the gospel. We are going to have 3 baptisms next Sunday of Benee and his wife Maria and their daughter Irene. It is the first White Father led family i will have baptized on my mission, not that that really matters, but usually White people are alot more stubborn. That's really how the week went and it's gone by so fast that i cant really give any finer details. My health is good and Elder Seastrand and I go running every morning and i plan on doing so every morning for the rest of my mission so watch out Mom. I'm eating well because members always send food for us and it's pretty healthy. Love you all to much and I'll talk to you next week.
Elder T. Jones

March 29 2011
From the Mom
Another week over and I am sure I had barley anytime to breath. Dad said he is taking time off just so he can get farm work done because everyday after school there is someplace to have to be to. Mon we did stay home and just got to bed early, Tue he had to pick up C and then went to go to young men but they did not show up at the shooting range. Then Wed K had the Pinewood Derby, Thur Jer's head start had a pinewood derby. If I get the pic uploaded then I will send them. Fri the parents finally get to stay home one evening but Mc is going to hike in the Delta desert for scouts. C finally received his On my honor award for doing it at timberline and its a very nice one too. Jo and Trav on Sat and Mon. put new ball joints on her car and changed the oil. She said in order to get to do some of it she would have to take the tools away from him so she could have a chance because he would get to into doing it. But ya pretty much she has redone the under structure of the wheel base on that car with either taking it to a shop or doing a do over with Trav. To the tune of about 6 hundred now. Sadly though the poor car is looking worse and worse. The boys got it stuck in the mud and then didn't step on the break fast enough and ran it into the side of the truck bed so it scratched the back side of the car. Then Dad made a speed rut at the top of the hill to run water off the road the other way and it hits as we cross poor car i hope it makes it. But at least its more alive then the sub which we think it truly blew the engine the other day. I was trying to get up the hill to the bus and it would not drive out of the yard at all it just putted. Trav thinks the engine blew also by the described sound Jo said it made. Well Katie Mills came home this last week and she gave her homecoming talk today. It was really neat to see here growth. Her mission was really hard for her and as she said humbled her alot. Levi will be home sometime next month. Papa hopes that he will have a chance to return to Japan to help the people there. He has an idea an is praying that the door opens that he can serve there in some way again. This week must have been very interesting for you and we are excited to hear what has happened it should be eye opening to hear the changes that are going on. I am going to be going to the Missionary Moms get together so maybe I will get to see a Mom or two for some of your companions, I guess we will just have to see. Have an amazing week and I sure hope this letter gets to you this time.

Love the family.
I wont ask to many ? today since you already have to catch up on the letter that got lost last week sorry not sure what happened.

1. What are the different church pictures about that you sent us?
1. Well to answer your Questions, that big building is not a church. Its the union building which is the equivalent of the White house. The picture with the spire is of the temple and the picture of the church with a spire is our chapel here. The picture of Elder Seastrand and i with the two others is the Young man we helped to set apart for his mission.(center right) and the other is his brother (center left)

2. Who are the two elders that you and Elder Seastrand are with in the foyer?
2.(see answer to question 1)

4. What is the service project about that you have the bags and orange warn shirts on about?
4. Its' called helping hands, i think the church does it all over the world but i could be wrong. We were cleaning up a school that the Mamelodi ward meets in.

5.You should start looking at preparing to ship your gift crate that you said you had accumulating. We will not open it when it arrives alright.
5.Yeah i was even thinking about that today, i just have been trying to save a few bucks. but if i could ship it it might make things easier on me.

6.So did your companion survive and keep from getting truncky?
6.Well he's doing good. but he's definably aware that he's going home in a week.

The Lord works in Many Ways.

1. Lennie how is he doing almost ready to be baptized the day after the biggest Pioneer Celebration that Utah can muster, did you remember that was a Utah holiday?

1. He is going to be baptized this coming Sunday.

2. Please buy the card reader we want to see pictures of you again.
2. I can't afford a new one until I have about R120, that equals about $17. If you could help me with that it would be nice.

3. Did you move out of your apartment this p-day?
3. No we haven't moved out yet, but that is a good question because I haven't been thinking about that much this week and we may need to find out.

4. Did any of Lennies friends make a baptism commitment yet?
4.Yes they did, and we are now teaching one of his friends whole family. Unfortunately one of his friends fell subject to the false rumors about satanist and has been dodging us lately.

5. Chase Hathaway served in the township just over from
Tazneen and told a story about monkeys and being curious have you had any come close to you and be curious about what you might be doings?
5.Was the township called Lenyenye? I have seen monkeys quite a lot around here but they always run away from you when you get close. I ll have to try and feed them

6. Have you gone on any P-day hikes in the jungle yet?
6.Nope I haven't and I'm not sure when I will. I would love to do it but the problem is that it is kinda dangerous and my companion wants nothing to do with it.

7. Now the boys wonder if you have seen giraffes up close?
7.Yes I saw Giraffes the same day I saw elephants. I have plenty of cool pics to send

8. Faith must be tried to be called faith tested. What do you think about this saying that I heard the other day. Any thoughts about how our family was faith tested by Jer's birth?
8. I'm not sure if that is the exact quote, but it kinda makes sense. If you have faith but nothing ever tries it then it hasn't been tested much.

Well this week has been an interesting week with a lot of frustration at times. But this Sunday was a great reliever of the stress. There is a lady who we have been teaching named sister Beverly. She has been taught for about 6 months. She was doing everything she is supposed to, to gain a testimony except one thing. and that is to pray. Every Sunday she was coming to church and she was participating a lot in Relief Society activities. But every time the subject of baptism came up around her so did all of her excuses. Since I have been here, Elder Makosa and myself have seen a lot of changes in her and she started to progress closer and closer to the goal but still until recently she has struggled with the idea. Then Yesterday, we came to her house at the end of the night to talk with her and I told her how frustrated I have been this week. She started to quote from the bible in an attempt to cheer me up and she was saying something about how the road to God is a rough one and the road to Satan looks nice and easy. As she was saying these things it was helping me, but I was only kind of half listening. As she talked she started to mention how great a day she had had and how she had loved church. Then out of now where she said..."and I'd like to be baptized next Sunday"... At first Elder Makosa and myself didn't think much of it, but after going over the statement again in my head I asked her to repeat what she had just said. After doing so Elder Makosa and I almost fell out of our seats. She said that she had heard about the mention of Lenny's baptism coming up and it made her think a lot about it. She said she went home and knelt down to ask God if that is something she should do. She said after praying she had never felt so good and so sure about something in her life and she has decided that that is what she wants in her life. We ended up changing the lesson for the night and instead just shared our testimonies. We told her we would make sure to review some things with her and then schedule and interview. She accepted that she might not be baptized next week, but would wait until she could be interviewed. What an experience! it just goes to show how powerful prayer can really be. I encourage all of you to continue praying about the truth and really come to know for yourselves if the church is true. It is our testimonies that drive us to live the gospel and do what is right. If we can each have that spiritual witness to the truth then when our faith is tested, we will always pass the test.

Well, I love all of you and hope you are doing your part to learn the gospel, nothing comes free, especially the best things.

Elder Jones

The Family says.
Wow if life slows down I am not sure what we might do around here. Maybe I should go backward with the weeks happenings.

J isn't eating again this Sunday morning, this time the sticky mouse catching pad was set by the stove top and it finally caught the dang mouse that somehow is getting on the top of the island. 13 years in this house and that has never been a problem and this summer we can not get rid of them. She said Mom are you trying to starve me two Sundays in a row and I can't handle it. Heehee. evil laugh at least it's caught now.
Arrived home late last night from an afternoon at the Smith family reunion. Photos were sent of our family doings there. Drive was eventful the car had an awful smell and all of a sudden us in the back yelled we wanted out because it smelled like smoke. I have never seen little people haul out so fast. For some reason there was oil spurting on the engine and making it burn up causing the smoke. Dad never did figure out why and Darren, and Golden stayed behind us to make sure we arrived home safe which we did or I guess I wouldn't be writing this to you. When we arrived at church today Darren came up and said it's the strangest thing.
When we stoped to see what was wrong with your car I asked Dad -Golden to look at the 4wheelers he was hauling and check all the tie downs. He had the big 5th wheel that they haul hay on and there were like 4 or maybe 5 plus a dune buggy and a mini bike strapped on. As they were looking at why our car was shooting smoke Golden found that one of the big huge 4 wheelers straps were broken and not even latched on. If he had pulled to the side
Darren was on the wheeler would have rolled off the trailer at that point but there was a hill so he had gone off the opposite side of the road. Can you imagine that wheeler coming off and someone hitting into it in the dark of the night not to mention the loss and cost. Well we went ahead as they I guess retied it down and we ran into the worst wind and storm we couldn't even see the road for a little bit. By the time they got to the storm it was most likely not the worst of it and didn't blow the high trailer over and they did have a bit of rain to have to see through. We may never know what danger was prevented but I felt a thrill run through me of confirmation that there must have been a reason to slow us all down as we were traveling home. The car never blew smoke again and we got home just fine. I also realized that at that time you would have been doing your morning study and prayers and so maybe what words you spoke protected us also. Darren even said that he had kept feeling that he needed to check the 4 wheelers and hadn't yet but that gave him a moment to stop and say hey Dad you look while I help them. J got to drive the team of Belgium's and had a blast and then they let her and K get up on their huge backs. She said ok I will just stay here all night. We thought her Hobbles was a really tall horse. Those are monstrously huge.
Fri we spent doing the water at Whites and shoeing the horses so that Hobbles will run faster. J had a barrel run of 16.4 and is going to do the rodeo at Scipio on the 24th. So the horse had to have a nail job. Wed and Thur the white truck kept me stuck in town trying to get little things fixed on it so it could be inspected. Tue and Mon is a blur and to many things happened in between there. Tonight I had to go help Sondra pack the last of the things into her car so she could go to Chads military graduation and they are moved out. It's strange to see the cabin empty and wonder if another honeymooner will get married and move into it soon.
C spent the whole week up at a place called Camp TIFEE and loved it he swam the mile and only one leader beat him. Brother Howell said he must be the energizer bunny because he just never gets tired. We went up to the reunion and him and Mc proceeded to spend the night again 6 nights of camping for that boy. J says you need to answer her note and that she loves you lots. Everyone has there eyes on her and the Bishop gave her a hard time for walking down town with holding a boys hand and then the next day he sees her riding bare back down the road in town. She was so embarrassed she wouldn't talk to him. He said it's ok it's natural and laughed she still was all goofy about being teased. Ron Brown called and was happy to hear that you were out serving the Lord he thinks your a great kid. Well the summer is hot and very raging busy for the next three weeks. Parades rodeos and showing lambs and then quiet peace because school will start and then its time to get wood and harvest the garden. The time is flying by faster and faster it it just amazing to see it that way. I love you lots and can't wait to hear the weeks adventures. Oh ya Dad says we are going to all go for a family Home evening Horse ride tomorrow since he is going to be home early for once this week. They have been going over time which is a blessing because there for a little bit he was getting worried that we wouldn't have enough because of short hours at work. I love you we all love you can't wait to hear from you. Love Mom

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.

Truly THANKFUL

No feeding tube just the oxygen left Sept 2007.Jan. 2007 to Junes Cowboy still watching his sats with the Monitor even while in the car.


Faith and Gratitude We are where they said we would never be.
So maybe I am going back in time a few years but today as I put Jer. on the bus and we had no tubing attached to his little neck, I had a moment of WOW. My memory shot back in time to 3&half years ago sitting in a New Born Intensive Care Unit around this time of year pinning to just go home and be a complete family and be free from the struggle we were facing and remembering that they told me that he would never go to school with out a ventilator and the trach. It was an incredible WOW. So FAITH and GRATITUDE just over took me as he waved goodbye and I went home to write this. I am so blessed by the Lord and realize that. These scripture are so true 3 Ne. 17: 8 , D&C 42: 48, D&C 29: 6 , Heb. 11: 1. I received the most profound promise in a blessing before he was born but I still had to go the whole challenge to see it come to a realization. My Dad had stated in that blessing that everything would be all right after the challenges were over. They are not all over but we don’t have to drag that machine to school that’s for sure. So check out some of the photo progress that we made through the last three years. Notice how we gain kinds of tubing and then slowly lose those kinds of tubing. It took us from Aug 2006 to June 2007 to get rid of all those different kinds of tubing’s and we still to this day at night have the nasal tubing when he sleeps


The size he grew while we lived in the hospital was much bigger then a 10 dollar bill! But he went from having to have a tracheotomy, ventilator, and feeding tubes to freedom.
June 2006, 1lbs 14oz Breathing on his own! He was as big as a 10 dollar bill. Jer.'s starting Story was that he didn't need any help breathing for 24 hours and then assistance with blow by air for a month. Then what they call the NICU rollercoster ride hit and we just hung on tight!