Happy New Year 2012

Yep that's what I said Happy New Year. Where has the time gone since my last post  I don't  know.

 I will be back posting if I can ever steal a min with the  computer and our internet connection. We live rural so its not wifi and so all the computers in the house have to share which we went from none the week after the Missionary came home to three all of a sudden wow. Its really hard to live with out the technology these days but our household tried for at least 3 months and went out of our home to access the net but then the Dad said enough was enough he needed to do bills and taxes.

Missionary work is still going on strong at our corner of the world. Return Far away boy Tyrell the Past Elder Jones helped teach our cute little cousin and my niece the lessons and then on Christmas Eve we had the baptism and on Christmas Day she got the best gift of all the gift of the Holy Ghost. What a sweet day to be able to remember forever and the best present you could ever receive.Tyrell did the confirmation in sacrament meeting and it was special.
 I loved that Christmas moment the most.

Weighing the show steers in with SNOW!

We awoke to lots of spring snow and coldness. Draw back, the two untrained show steers had to be loaded and taken to be weighed to know what the gains will become over the next few feed out months before the show. They were pleasantly surprised at how good they were weighing in by this date in the game.

That was way easier then we all expected.

The cutes pinky girl ever.

We were happy to see our cute cousin niece there girlying the gates to the shoots.

T watching the steers move below him in the  pass to the scales.

C boy thinking come on already the wall is not going to eat you steers move it.!

Pushing the steers through the gates into the shoot weighing scales. Yep that's one cute girl of mine with C boy standing  n front of her and the one holding the yellow prod making  them move forward is our niece. Of course lets not count out the handsome side wall prod man getting the steers to move on down the path, he is mine and no one else's.

Pretty girl Jo,T, and Z an K boys sticking their lovely tongues out at me. C boy is watching them be goofy.

What a big bunch of farm kids not even caring of all the muck around them.

Now be nice an load up again to head back home.

Yippy three more months to grass feed and pack on the pounds and then make some big money to put away for college. Jo and C look like it just might  be lucrative in the end.

Missinary has a new companion again.

Well this week has been pretty good. Elder Seastrand Went home on Tuesday and i got another companion named Elder Hatch. He's from Washington State. So far he's really cool and has alot of good ideas to help the zone. Due to the change in everything, we've had a bit of down time with trying to get situated and get adjusted to all of the changes. But nevertheless, things have been pretty well. Wed we had Zone Leader council and that was really nice, we got some more great ideas about what we can do to help the zone lift where they stand. Thrusday we had planning and it also went well. Afterward, we had a some apointments that fell through but we still achieved our purpose by finding new people to teach. Friday we travelde out to the new area in our zone to attend their District meeting and we got a bit lost. It took us about 1hr to drive there, and once we got into town is when we got lost. We were waiting for the Elders to come and find us at The Protea Hotel wich later we found out was very confusing, because there are two Protea hotels there and they kept going to the wrong one. Eventually we figured out the problem and they found us. Their district meeting was Great and the Distirct leader Elder Ssempala is super awesome. Their district is going to lift the zone alot. Saturday we went on exchanges with Elder Udy and Elder Ray. I went in my area with Elder Ray. He's a super excited missionary and still really has the Greeny fire. I hope he can help encourage Elder Udy to keep a good smile. Sunday was great, the Van Dyk family got confirmed and Sister Dutio the family history specialist to talk about family history so they can take names to the temple. Their way excited to do it and thy have the forms now to get started. Now to answer your Questions:

1.P.S. Please forgive me I didn't get to the mailbox but I will this week. Please tell me of your needs, Anything, contact solution, desired candy crave, or food crave, or CD or inspired desires, What, let us know NOW its most likely the last box I will dare send and know that it will make it to you in a decent sort of time frame.
1.I think i would like the usual stuff you have sent and i especially enjoyed the Cereal (crunch berries) I always like jerky and all those goodies. Maybe a bottle of some Authentic hidden valley ranch dip and some cool ranch doritos would be nice.

2. What is the weather like there now?
2.It's getting a bit chilly in the evenings and early morning, but it's just hot or rainy during the day

3. What do you think about all that I said for school?
3. well i really don't want to jump in mid semester, but setting me up for the January semester would be nice. I'd like to work until then and i plan on filling my time up with lots of good things to do, so don't fill my scheduled so much that i can't put anything else into it. But thanks for all that.

4. New companion give us the update and the low down of his info?
4. answered above

5. What is the new teaching people that your now working with?
5.we are trying to build our teaching pool up a bit now. We recently got droped by a few people

7. So what happens when you have a companion that flys home is the transfer the same or different?
7. nope the transfer goes just the same

8. Conference it was your turn this week right how did you like the talks?
8.we don't see it until next week.

9. Is there lots of rap music that is played there?
9.Yes and what they call House music

10. How much responsibleness do we have towards helping our closest loved ones look and learn of the gospel? Please tell us your take on this subject.
10. Well i'm sure that we have quite a responsibility to help them as far as we can, but in the end they have agency and you can't force them. But fear of rejection is no reason to not even try.

Well i'm out of time so i'll talk to you later.

Elder T. Jones

Apr 11, 2011
Dear Elder Jones

Mothers day talk just saying now so you know. We at the first part of your mission paid for a card that holds money for calls to International locations. There is $ left to be able to use to talk with you for the last call of your mission just so that you know ok. Ya its a bit early to be telling you but I just got a little email update so while its on my brain I thought I would say something.

I in the last week ran into the Rose kid he says to tell you hi in broken Spanish, Cortney C who gave me some great advice for a very lost returning missionary ("get him enrolled in college asap and hand him a schedule so that you are told what to do for the first two weeks since thats how its been for the last two years his words not mine") and he says to tell you Hi keep up the good work. 

I actually found out that you can start school halfway in the middle but not so sure the class choices are much to be desired. But I am going to meet with a counselor to see if it works. Its too late to file for scholarships I should have done that in January but at that time it really didn't seem that there was any kind of need now I know better oops. Also Will told me that you could come and live with him if need be until that got all sorted out too so we will hope that you two have now written to each other. Also you are most likely going to be saying ughs lets not even talk about any of this yet so that you do not lose focus right? But I at least wanted you to know that there is going to be a sort of set plan already in place for you because many have said that return missionaries feel pretty lost when its time to come home and that it can make for a scary feeling when you have to face that time. So never fear Mother Planner is here and she has it all figured out (not) but I am willing to try.

J and Dad and I went to school the other day so that she could make a plan to start cutting hairs with cosmetology. Its going to take her having to do stuff online and maybe going to Ceder Ridge a bit which she is not to thrilled over but she is getting the idea that she has to be ahead in order to fit it all in. C to has this plan to get a scholarship to UVU so I am going to call and get a plan already in motion because we found that he has to have certain kinds of math, English and science to be able to even be looked at. Often the kids miss those and so they take basics and thats not what is wanted by the college so they dont get offered a invite. So now he is also going to do electronic high school and Ceder ridge to bump ahead.
J went to Prom with T she wore her lime green dress that she bought all by herself and she looked so very pretty. Dad got dragged there to do the Parent dance with her and they had so much fun. Even though she is not a Jr. they let the partner do the Promenade. She sure looked cute even though she has two left feet she says. I made his bouttonier and we did a whole different angle then the normal flower style. Bethany and I came up with a lime green race hotwheels car and a few tiny flowers and we wired and glued and it was the most guy related there ever could have been. Lots of people thought it was very cool. The next morning we had to get up really early to take J and C's fair steers in to be weighed. It was really hard to get everyone going as it was snowing like crazy and we had at least 4 inches of snow. On Mon and Tue we had all worn short sleeves and by Thur night it was starting to be cool and rainy and Sat SNOW again. We are really tired of it and I am sure you are missing it. Its late Sat night and its still snowing and it most likely will all night. The mountains are so overly full that we just hope that we do not flood away again especially the part that got burned so badly. Dads week off was a bit hard as the tractor broke down and he had to go get a part fixed just so he could get back to plowing, water line broke so that took a whole day and now snow stopped him totally as he really didn't want to get the tractor stuck. Poor Mc was supposed to have soccer game but Manti got lots of snow too so the ball would not have rolled on the ground thus it got cancelled. C this week had three games and the last one was really hard against Beaver. He got hit in the head two different times and had the worst headache. He was shaking pretty hard by the end of playing two games I am not sure if it was the head bumps or from starting to get cold that caused it. He was in bed so fast that night it was almost scary since he is not very good about that now days.
Well thats our little bit of news for the week not to much exciting really happened. Please remmeber I love you son and I am so grateful for this time that you have taken to serve the Lord and the example that it is setting for your little brothers. It also helps J to have a standard to set guys up against so that she picks wisely because she wants that in her future choice of a husband.
Love the mom telling all the family info news

One more missionary day.

1. I wondered what your attitude would be if the Lord needed you to come home early to help

save the lives of others as in the case of some of the 45 missionaries that were sent home from Japan to make room for the ones who just arrived and so that the members would focus on rebuilding instead of concern to feeding the missionaries. Or in a possible other reasoning that the Lord would need you to say be home early how would you prepare yourself for that? Like Dad said he had to change the way he thought because of being sent home early as they changed the dates of the mission lengths world wide to 18months.
1. I guess I would do whatever I would be asked to do, but I think I'd be a bit sad. Luckily South Africa doesn't usually suffer from natural disasters, but you never know.

2. Who is the young black boy that you two are sitting on the couch with in the photos you sent?

2.Well He's actually a young Indian boy. His dad is a member and his mom is not a member. They recently moved out of our area so we were taking goodbye pictures on his birthday

3. What would it cost to ship that crate home verses giving away all your stuff and putting it into your luggage that would come home with you? C saw the wrestle shirt and was really surprise that you had taken it with you and wondered if you were now sick of the stuff you have with you and if you are leaving it there?
3.I'm not sure, the problem is I don't have everything that I want to send home yet so I've been waiting.

4.So I assume that you are now the senior companion again as the zone leader or was there a transfer of you also?

4.I don't have any idea whether I'm senior companion or not, transfers doesn't happen until tomorrow. and I won't even find out who my companion is until around 3:00. I'm still in the area, usually only one companion gets transferred at a time. If both gets transferred that means the closed the area for missionary work so I'm staying.

Well this week has been pretty hectic. Monday was normal Tuesday was normal except alot of appointments fell through. Wed was normal, and then came Thursday. Thursday we had our weekly planning as always and then when we were just outside of our 1st appointments, we got a phone call from the assistants telling us that we had to move on Friday, the following day. I must admit that was a bit of frustrating news, because we were told that we were going to move today, which is Monday and we had already made plans for all of those things to work out. So the free time we had on Thursday was spent going around cancelling our Friday appointments. Anyway moving to Friday, things worked out. We got to got to the temple with our zone which had been scheduled and was unchanged by the moving plans, then straight after we started packing and with the help of the housing couple Elder Sibley and Sister Sibley, we are now living in a new house. The house is bigger because tomorrow two other Elders will be moving in with us, because their opening up Elder Seastrand's and my Second area, Centurion, with their own elders. It's kind of exciting. We also got news that Place called Kwaguwa, is being brought into our zone and we are losing the Centurion area and they are making a new Centurion zone. It's history in the making I guess. I hope everything will go well and I hope I can orient the two new Elders to their ward as well as my companion to our ward and zone.
Saturday was a very nice day, we got to take Benee, Maria and Irene to see the temple grounds and have a little picnic with them. They are very excited to get to the temple and be sealed after one year of being members of the church.
Then Sunday we had the baptism of Benee, Maria and Irene. It was really special. They are going to be a strong family in the gospel. Benee already paid tithing last week, and they are holding family home evenings on their own. they read their scriptures each night and always say family prayer. They are definitely the model Family as of right now. Their still learning but their learning fast.
Most of today is going to be spent helping Elder Seastrand prepare his luggage and everything he needs to go home. It's crazy how fast time flys! I met him three months ago and he's already out of here. Crazy crazy crazy. I hope everyone is doing well, I hope all of the stresses of life in the family get ironed out and every one can keep smiling.

Elder T. Jones.

Mon, Apr 4, 2011
The news happenings
This week Dad took off next week so that he can plow and plant and clean up the corrals because the winter made a big mess. He never gets a farm full work day so he has been deciding that this is how he will get a jump start on the farming. Spring is also so teasing us these days. as it will be warm enough for shorts and then back to coats and boots from tons of snow. He is alos listening to his mission tapes and trying to figure out a way to get them on to paper form so that he has a record in case his tapes die. Sat Mc played his first soccer for Middle school and they won against North Sevier.  C and Mc went to Priesthood session all by themselves because Dad was plowing. C was very please when our fast resulted with that fast of an answer today. It was the most peaceful Sunday we have had in a very long time too because he tried very hard to stay reverent. C played against Grand and they won too. He is a really good player also and made several points and blocked lots of possible scores. Jer is just getting smarter and smarter with all the things he can do. He still sucks at eating but at least I have gotten him to drink a few more healthy protein sources now days.
I have not been running this last month because of trying to study for me test and because of the cold but I am gearing up to get going now that it seems to be getting a bit warmer. Please be really careful running with your really old shoes unless you got new ones. Old shoes can cause shin splints or heel injury's so slow and steady and how are you shoes holding or did you get a new pair? Also I would like you to bring home only one thing should you choose to leave everything else. Please bring your most torn apart shoes so that some day we can show your posterity what kind of missionary you where by the soles of your feet.
Oh sorry about no photos again. Hopefully next week everyone will be able to unload their cameras as only Dad, Justin You and Jamhal were missing when we all got our pictures taken on Jadies front porch. I of course forgot mine ugha. Jathan is supposed to send me his.
Love you lots have a great week of new changes and goodbyes,
Love Mom and the Family

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.

Genealogy you know FAMILY

May I please announce a very special blog spot with stories of my children ancestors go there read have fun check back there is bound to be more as time goes on.

THE FAMILY OF ANDREW AND SIDDIE BUNN SMITH

There is a link spot if you ever need to find it again on the bottom of my family list. Love my family lots. 

I promise there really is cool stuff going on!

I always forget the camera when it seems mundane, but there has been cool stuff going on on our farm. 

We have laughed and cleaned and cleaned again.

 Then taken to cleaning the yard of the winter blowing's and tree branches on the ground.

 The garden spot is getting prepared and oh ya I better remember to make my seed starts get into those little peet pots. 

The boys Momma chickens are now laying in overdrive again.

The cows are starting to be born, our first one came the other morning and yippee its a heifer too.

Will there be another baby foal in the field I guess we will see pretty soon as spring comes ever near.

17 robins we saw through the window yesterday and we always measure spring because the geese come from far away.

 Now if I could just remember to recored all the things that we see and we do by a photo, you would see that there really is cool stuff going on over here on the JONES family farm. 

Missionary asks about Family Prayer, Scripture reading, and Family Home Evening?

The Missionary's Questions to the Family.
1. How is family home evening going? 

2. How is family prayers going?

3. How is family scripture reading?

Family Answer: Honestly these are all always works in progress and refinement. There is an ebb and flow to them depending on the mood and strength of the family unit. So we are forever working to be better at each one and some days they are are done with greatness and some days we failed miserably and get up to the next day to work to do them again better the next time. We are not perfect but we are striving to gain that goal which will meet at some point if we try try try and keep always trying to reach that goal. 

1.I want to know what you mean about being obedient? Are you referring to the fact that sleeping is a favorite and hard for you even now that you are on a time zone that agrees with your biological internal clock or is it like Missionary Kathrine Howell says those who are native to the country often act as if the missionary rules do not apply to them?

1.Well I'm kind of confused about this Question, but I can say that I have been trying to develop alot more self control since I came on my mission and I started with making a resolution to be obedient all the time. Unfortunately you have to be with someone else all the time and they don't always want to be obedient and that causes contention. I don't like Contention and I don't like being disobedient so it's alot less stressful and alot more happy when your comp wants to be obedient too.

2.How do you practice listening to the spirit? 

2.We Do Real plays (Role plays) every day to try and discern the spirit, but mostly it just come in teaching and everyday life and decisions. You just have to search for it and you will find it. It's also easier when you don't watch TV and bother yourself with worldly stuff a majority of the time.

3.What are the Internet cafes like that you have to send letters to us from,are they hard to keep the spirit there about you because of the smoke or loud music?

3.The Internet cafes are ok. They are like public businesses so they don't allow smoking and what what inside. None of the Cafes I've been to are actually cafes. They are strictly for computer use.

4. What does it say on pg 15 of the 9:00pm schedule last sentence of the white handbook?

4.It says write in your journal. (I have been writing every night since the first day of January!)

5. Have you taken the time to see when your temple recommend expires? Make sure before you leave Africa that is is in affect with Pres. Poulsen so that you are able to attend here without having to take time to track down the people it will take to get it updated. 

5. I still have until July, then I will get it updated

6.What pictures would you like to see of our family do you have any choices that I could put on next week?

6.Any pictures I love pictures from home

7. Did you have lots of DA's this week? Has anyone asked you to do something that took practice that may have been lost from lack of practice? There is a sister that says she will make sure your fed if you have no DA's have you met her yet?

7.Not really, the ward is really good at giving us food though. We are not supposed to have DA's after 6:00 and that's when everyone wants to do it. The only way is if they have someone for us to teach.

Unfortunately I'm out of time but it's been a great week. I might have to write a letter. We'll see.

Love Elder Jones

 Dear Son and Brother

What a fun week we have had meeting your companions mother over the Missionaries Moms group.As soon as I saw the name I knew I had seen it on the group of the Moms from Africa. I am grateful for those who are willing to share and care about each other in this wonderful world that we live in. And we got see you little flat that sits sorta behind the green roofed house. The boys wonder if the car you have is still blue, that was the color of the one in the google maps address photo that Sister Seastrand sent for us to look at this week. 

This is my take on Listening to the spirit it takes practice every single day coupled with prayer so getting enough sleep helps turn on your ears to hear him loudly at times that you will need his quiet shouting like the time when the car was coming towards me on the freeway and I heard his shout to get in a different lane. 

The alumni wrestle happened this week and the team wiped out Gunnison C did not pin but he had 9 to 4 points on his opponent. I am not sure if you knew that Mike retired yet but can still whip Caleb Young on the mat. The two Willes brothers went against each other and tied up. It was fun to see some of the old guys on the mat. They honored Mike with a legend trophy that they want to start from now on. Thursday was crazy Mc went to the planetarium and then to a region wrestling. The buses made it back from SLC with barley enough time for them to hop in another car and head over to Millard county. He took 4th and was pretty pleased with himself. Of course we had to tell him earlier in the week that he had to finish out the season and go all the way to the end as he is starting to get tired of the practices every night after school. C that same night wrestled in Wayne county and pinned both of the kids he had to wrestle. Every kid on the varsity high school team has qualified to go to state this year. Jer goes around whistling all day now and asks me if I can whistle also. He even whistles in school and when he wants my attention.  Reminds me of someone else that's far away. I did another 6 mile run this week. My friend did an 8 mile run and so I guess this week I better get a move on if I am going to keep up with her.She already has ran a half marathon and she wants me to come run with her. I am a bit scared of it though because I have to talk myself into doing it everyday. Also running outside is way different then inside since there seems to be hills that pop up out of no where when you run outside, which of course makes you breath really hard at times and gets you into a discouraged state for a moment and then all of a sudden there is a flattening and if you kept going then you know that you can go more but if you quit on the hill then there is the talking yourself back into doing it more. This analogy reminds me of maybe how taking time to read the Book of Mormon when your at home and not having to do it can be just like preparing to run in a day but on your mission the time is set aside to do the reading its a part of the assignment. So I guess the bottom line is I just need to set the goal pay the fee and get running so that I am ready to run with her when the date arrives because when its all done I will feel so great. J even went with me on one of my walk/runs around the valley Sat. It only took us an hour and a half where last year it took me about two and a half hours to get around the valley. We couldn't run the whole time because she would get to tired and she had bad shoes on but it was fun to finally get her to go with me.  Tonight Z will be going to a get ready to be baptized class let me tell you he is so very thrilled to be able to go do this.

Please tell us all the new things that this week has brought to you in teaching the truth of all things that really matter most in this world.

Love the family who loves you here.

All ready to talk through SKYPE yippeee!

1. Are you shoes holding out and are you doing ok clothing wise still?

1.Yeah all that stuff is ok, but the soles are starting to go. They should last long enough.

2.Were you able to meet with the two white Father families last Wed?

2. Well we met with one and I was so nervous that I think I was trying a little to hard, but we did manage to get a return appointment with them for tomorrow.

3.What did you think of your Christmas stuff or are you still waiting to open it, they say missionaries never wait once they get packages.

3.Well I have been enjoying all of the stuff that wasn't wrapped, but all of the wrapped stuff is still waiting till Christmas.

Well I don't have much time to talk so I'll just have to fill you in during the phone call. I would really prefer not to do the video thing so we'll just talk.

This week has been really good. we had Dinner with a General Authority, Elder Watson, on Saturday and Sunday we listened to him talk. We also had a baptism combined with a little unorthodox wedding, which I'll have to give more details about that on Saturday. I love the family lots and can't wait to hear from you.

To our beloved brother serving the Lord on a mission.

We have been so so busy and can hardly wait to hear your cool accent. Anyway in response to some of the things you said in your last letter about the voice verses the video. I would hope that you change your mind about the video and use it because for Jer it would be so wonderful. Lately he has been asking why you are taking so long to come home and wants to see if you are ok, like physically there, which in a video would help. I understand if you have concerns about being able to see us and the possible loss of focus that could come because of it but I want you to know that I think you will be fine if that is one of your worries about seeing us actually. You will need to add my name as one of the couples contacts in order to access our lines and its just that simple.

Dad has had crazy week with lots of late late surgeries and will even be doing a few surgeries on Christmas eve and he is on call so we are all holding our breath as to what might happen this year.

This week was a bit trying on my bus job as one of the young men had to test if I would really go and get the Principal if he didn't sit in his assigned spot so after being horrible one day and skipping riding for two days and then trying the same shenanigans I had to keep my word and go get the big guys. Then to make if really cement hard he saw me in Ace hardware with his Dad and knew he was really in trouble. I think he will not be being naughty ever again since I went right up and made friends with his Dad but didn't rag him out or anything like that. Dad said wow that kid really didn't want to see you at all.

C hurt his shoulder last week so on Mon I took him to Sis Zufelt and he said it was crazy how afraid he has been since the rib break and it all just ran off him and by Wed night he was pretty ok. He pinned in what is called the Pink game against Richfield and then this weekend he had 5 matches and pinned 4 the one he lost was by 4 points to the a National ranked senior from Emery county, he was frustrated because he almost had him pinned and then he slipped out. The coaches didn't tell C who it was that he was going against but C said they were ringing there hands and talking all whispers so he like started to get suspicious and wondering what was going on. They told him after the match was over who he had just wrestled. He will go against him in Jan. at our school so I am going to try and video it then. C ended up taking 3rd place and getting a medal in the end this weekend up in summit county.

Mc was super glad we let him out of doing the Christmas dance if he would wrestle in Milliard county. Besides Dad had his work party that night so we really couldn't be in two places at once.

The boys started to collected pop cans to have money for Christmas presents and Mc ran head long into a whole slew of them. The Lady next door to a really messy spot of cans said if you come over and get one you have to get all of them and so the next day we brought the truck and they filled bags until they were over the cab of the red truck. They made 119.00 they were so thrilled so Sat we went shopping and they got presents for each other actually two each they were so smart with the things they got.

I was put back in as an assistant three year old teacher in primary of course its almost as if I never left anyway because Jer will not go without me anyway. I am kind of glad because he sometimes is pretty tough to handle when he gets an idea in his head of what he wants to do. We also have gotten rid of his Binky finally so he tends to be noisy with the fact that he won't whisper.

Tonight C was advanced to a life scout and hopefully I can get him to finish all his half completed badges. Mc went to a tenderfoot and got his first aid badge and then went camping the first time at the roller rink and learned about preparing for a mission. Then they went cross country skiing he had a blast.

Well this is going to be short because the little boys are trying to do the Gingerbread house alone and J is begging me to help her with some art homework. I hope this week is super great and fulfilling for you. Please consider the video and we will be ready on Sat early with the computer on and running. Waiting for what ever you end up choosing to do.

Love all of us.

Personal Testimonies of some in our family.

1.Dad says you know walking along fall in a hole or walking along and slip in a ditch has there been anything like that in what you would call a walking accident?
1.Well not that I can really think of. Just bicycle accidents. I've definitely got a lot of mud on my shoes recently because there is a lot of dirt roads in Motupa and it's the rainy season.

2.WHAT IS THE EXACT PRICE OF A BOTTLE OF SUNSCREEN please. We are all wanting to know by now, ok, make the conversion from their money to our money please.
2.Well I can't really answer that because I haven't shopped today yet. ( a tiny bottle is 17$ in our American money finally told to us over the phone.)

3. Please give us more detail on the Christmas tradition that means so much to you. The eating of any old kind of foods or just the breakfast stuff that is in your stocking because we never ever ever at any other time of the year are allowed pop tarts and carnation milk drinks. Or are you talking about the family get together dinners?
3.Exactly! the pop tarts and the carnation milk drinks!

4. Tell us what to do about the skype computer to computer and their name so I can add it to my list please.
4.Well I've never used skype, but I assume we can do the computer to computer thing and my Mission President ok'd the the video thing, but I'm not sure if I personally want to do that part. If it's ok with you maybe just the voice thing.

5. Who can be here for the calls?
5.Well I forwarded the the e-mail President Poulsen sent, but the answer really is none but family.

Well let me set something straight. I'm not sure if you understand correctly what I meant by fight for my testimony. My Testimony is solid! I've never had the testimony that I've had while here on mission. But that's just the thing isn't it. Out here I'm devoting all my attention to the Lord. Therefor my testimony is strong. What I meant is that if you want to have a strong testimony you have to fight for it. You have to keep the commandments. You have to study your scriptures and say your prayers. And on mission, you have to be obedient! The days when I do exactly what I'm supposed to and I don't let the Natural man get in, then I feel my testimony grow. The days that I give in to temptation and falter are the days I don't feel that growth. Most days I grow, and I strive everyday to do what the Lord expects. There are days where I could have done better and I could have said or done something more to improve the situation but I don't and those are the days that I struggle. Everyday is a day to improve :)

Anyway, for the week it was great. We, for the first time on my mission, organized and completed a wedding, so that our investigators could be baptized! It was really quite funny. Bro Manzini of the district council came to do the wedding and he even did the whole " you may now kiss the bride" thing and I'm not going to lie it was funny to see Dear Brother Samuel (50 something years old), and his wife kiss each other. It was even funnier to see Dear Bro Frans (68 years old) Stretch out to kiss his wife and his wife run away. She said she was to old, and that there were to many people around. Either way we had a blast, and they are now legally and lawfully married. This Friday was their interview and they past, but I was a little bit worried that this last Sunday, dec 12th, was going to be to soon and I didn't know what would happen if we asked them if we could move the date back, so I just prayed and asked God to help with the situation so that the best possible thing would happen and on Saturday, President Swanapoel asked if we could just move the baptism to the 19th. I'm pretty sure it was an answer to my prayers because it gave us a good reason to give Brother Samuel and Frans so they didn't even get frustrated or upset. The interview is still valid and they are very prepared, it's just that we now have one more week to speak with them, prepare them, and resolve any hidden challenges.
Well some more awesome stuff that happened is we Set TWO very solid appointments, with TWO white father led families in TOWN. Which doesn't happen very often. The first was a family we had met before and set an appointment with the wife, but when we went back they weren't home. So on Saturday we went back to their house and found the Husband. we explained to him how we had met his wife and left a Book of Mormon, but we had missed them the second time. He said let me go get my wife and they both came back to speak with us. The wife at first seemed to think we only wanted to talk with her so she suggested we come to her work, but the I said " we would really like to meet with the whole family" so she looked at her husband and he gave a shrug of approval and said sure. We set an appointment for this coming wed at 6:00! man I'm excited and I sure hope we don't mess it up. The second family was a family that we had tracked to before but only found the Domestic worker we had left a Restoration pamphlet with here and one for the Owners so when we came back a lady came to the gate and we asked if she had received the pamphlet. She said yes but that she hadn't read it. We explained who we are and what we teach, then she asked "what makes you different from any other christian church?" we tried to explain the restoration but she said "any church has their own story" Then I pulled out the big guns.... The Book of Mormon and I said " well we have a book called the Book of Mormon and it is an evidence that what we say is true." We also explained that we only ask people to pray and search for themselves if our message is true. Then in an effort to kind of brush us off (at least it seemed to me) she said "I'd like to learn more about this book, so I'll read it then give you a call" then adding in the whole act really nice and genuine she said "but is there anything I can do for you guys?" and with all the sincerity I could muster I said " honestly, there would be nothing more to lift my spirits then if you would allow us to set an appointment to come back and share more with you." after a thoughtful second she said " ok, you can come Wed at 1:00 and my husband will be home" boy did my heart jump for joy! the Book of Mormon is powerful and I love it! It always seems to make good things happen. When you introduce it, it makes people curious. When people read from it they feel the spirit, when you teach from it no one can argue with what you say. It's just awesome. I don't have much more time to write, but Saturday we had the branch Christmas party and alot of our investigators came so it was a good fellow shipping activity.

Anyway I love you all
Elder Jones

The phone call I must admit I am ecstatic, Why do you have to call our land line why can't we go computer to computer so it is completely free? I have been doing a practice run with Estella she phoned over and taught us how to make it work because her and her Hubby skype to Japan all the time. So anyway we are awaiting your response and will do whatever is best just help us to know what we need to do like give us their contact name and we will add it this week and be prepared to go at 8:00 sharp. The only thing I am worried about is the fact that all the kids are crazy and perform for the video camera so Estella was laughing so hard. They have a hard time talking in turn also so I hope that all can be heard correctly on your end, they sure are loud here on this end. Does the computer you are going to use have a mic and a video cam on it we will be using Dads and it is all cool and set up to go now.
J and C came up with the crazy idea to have our tree right in the middle of the room so we keep having to dance around it, I admit it is making me a bit crazy to have it in the way so much.
The boys have been going to practice on Tue and then Wed having a match sometimes then back to practice on Thurs. K is wrestling with the Jr. High group because he just couldn't stand to wait. So Wed night they had matches in Millard and we barely made it in time. K scooted in and was right away out on the mat against a kid who was lots taller than him. He wrestled 4 matches he did not win but he just kept at it even with a stupid nasty coughing. The boys were all lots older than him mostly because at his weight of 85 they are lots older than him. He has the keep going attitude though so that's good now that he has gotten over his fears. Mc had to be talked into going and that was with a compromise that he not have to do the dance at the middle school. He ended up doing six matches most were Millard boys. Two he won and he never backed down once. He is so very very good but when he isn't in to being willing to do it there is pretty much nothing that will change his mind.

C lost at a NSHS battle of the axe to a kid he has won over and over through the years. It was kind of a shock to him. This weekend Fri they are in Juab and he pinned two and then one was won by points. The next was exhibition status and he lost but it still counted as a win for him this kid was a Jr. He said it is kind of harder since he had broken his ribs, he feels a bit slower and not as aggressive as he was in the past. There is some hesitancy that he gets but he hasn't figured out how to get over it. Saturday he wrestled all day and was supposed to have five. The first match he pinned and the second match of the day about tore his shoulder out because the Payson kid had an a full nelson and pulled the shoulder out with his head pushing against. The next match he was really sore and had been iced but he still pinned the kid but it did him in because the kid had an under hook that really finished off the sore shoulder. After that C had to talk to a trainer and they wouldn’t risk him getting hurt so that he couldn’t go the rest of the season. So the last two matches he had to do a bye in their favor. He has been on ice and heating pads with my tense machine pulsing all weekend trying to recover. Dad will most likely make him have xrays to make sure it is all ok in the morning so he can move forward since he has a match on Wed. We made it back to the ward Christmas party and really had a fun time participating in a reenactment of old time Christmas in Navuo. C left early with J because he had had enough of the pain and needed to lay it down but the rest of us had a blast, we wrote letters to all the missionaries in our ward and saw how a wagon wheel was made and ate from a famous bakery just kidding.

Devin sent home maple syrup that he taped out of a tree all on his own. I got to see pictures of him with his tongue hanging out there licking the sap as it dripped out. His companion is from Fillmore and he even wrestled with him during High school.
I haven't heard how Sam is doing so I will have to get an update.

On a more quiet private note Dad is wondering why you seem to struggle keeping your testimony? He well we are trying to understand what you mean when you say this. You are out teaching others this wonderful truth and way to help themselves return to the savior and yet you are having a hard time. I have whisper to remind you since you were such a young child that when Papa gave you that blessing that all you had to do was to have faith and you would be healed you took that and prayed every night that the problems that the medicine created in having scary dreams of hurting someone would leave and the hunger that plagued you would be taken away. You would tell me that you knew that you would be better soon and then 4 months later they told you that you could run, run and run. I remember we were in Milford with Dad and you went up and down that hill in front of the hotel running like crazy. Most of all you had the amazing faith to believe what Papa said that you would be fully healed with not a trace left of damage on your heart valve. Remember that's what the cardiologist said at your last visit “no one would be able to tell that you had been ill at one time except her and only because she had the records to prove that you had visited her”. The most important part of the whole thing is that you took the faith and grew it till it became the truth in your life and you were better. You prayed and believed that Heavenly Fathers promise would come about. Pres. Cottle said something to that affect also that you would grow and your testimony become stronger as you served the Lord. Dad says praying for deep testimony strength, that will help the Lord increase you and your testimony to an iron strength, ( he didn't say it just like that with those words but that is what he was trying to get at as we were talking about his concerns in this area for you so I am now trying to put it into words again to tell you about it) Sorry I wish I could have recorded exactly what he said. Anyway as you have said all the answers are in the scriptures and confirmed through prayer so now I better quit sounding all preachy to you the preacher boy of the moment.
Well it is Sunday the first of this letter was written throughout the week especially the private note part. Today as I sat in Relief Society and the lesson began I was amazed to be hearing pretty much what I had written to you about all the gifts that the Lord gives to us if we ask or are blessed with them through priesthood powers or they are told as to which one we are given in our patriarchal blessing. Now take the time to read D&C 46 and then read Moroni 7. What amazing things are said in those scriptures that can affect us for good if we choose to accept and use those gifts and listen to those angles that the Lord has working for him when we have faith. Moroni 7 will help you to grow your testimony especially as you pray.
Today we are reading about Papa and how he is working so hard to know the Japanese language while he is serving sometimes the gifts that we are given take time to be developed to, such as gift of translation for Papa, it came over time. My gift of faith came from many hard experiences of just keeping belief in the Lord until by the time Jeremy was born there was no way anything was going to keep me from believing that he would do anything but live. I will send some of Papas journal to you, it is so very fun to read how he is working within his mission. Makes us relate to you.
On a side note J and C have cleaned their letters out of their email and so they wonder if you would be able to forward to your address their letters so that I can print them off that way to keep for you? I told them I wasn’t sure if the LDS mail was like yahoo and kept letters and stuff like that or if after you read them they were just gone, I am assuming that its just like any other kind of email and has storage but will not be something you can get once you leave the mission field so anyway please forward so that we can complete the book we are doing for your mission letters.
Well smiled and keep really busy make sure you write in your journal even if it’s a boring day Papa did and it is still fun to see the note for the day as he served.
Have a super great week.

Love your family

Goal met by the Missionary.Baptisms completed ahead of time.

1.When you say you are not eating very healthy what does that mean. Are you not eating or does that mean that your are living on roman noddles. You know if you do not eat enough Protein then you can lose lots of muscle especially if you are having to walk around alot.
1. Mom you actually hit it right on the nose! Roman noodles all the way, except they aren't called roman noodles. I just don't really know how to shop, and I don't feel like there is ever time to cook. and I can't afford lots of meat.

2. So how is your goal setting going are you learning things about setting goals that will help you when your return?
2. Well I sure hope so.

3. What are your planning skills like now that you have been a missionary for a year?
3. Well I'd think they are a little better, but I haven't tried them on everyday life kinda stuff.

4. Discerning what does that mean to you? You said that you were trying to discern if one of the investigators was ready can you help us to understand what you learned about discerning in this area.
4. Discern to me means to be able to find what needs to be done, by the spirit.

5. Have you been to the little museum that holds drums from the Queen Modjadji it is there somewhere in Tazneen.
5.I'm not sure where that is. This whole area is Called Tzaneen... Motupa, Modjadji, Lenyenye. You'll have to find out which part of Tzaneen. (our area is called Tzaneen because we are in the center of Tzaneen Town.)

Wow sounds like an eventful week. A lot of things just clicked over again in my mind again and that is the fact that C and J and everyone is just growing up fast. It's way weird to hear that C is sucking weight and that J is driving around kingdom come. Just wondering, does the whole family usually read my e-mails or not? Well this week has been quite eventful for us. It started out normal, and then by Thursday we got a phone call from one of our members in Motupa, and he was sounding pretty distressed. He was saying that his house had been hit by a major hailstorm and that all his windows were broken and that his house was full of water. We told him that we couldn't really come over so soon because we usually do our weekly planning on Thursday and we don't get out of the flat until around 1:30-2:00. He begged us to do everything we could to come as soon as possible and I told him we would have to get permission to move our planning. Eventually I go a hold of Pres Poulsen and explained the situation. He said it was a good idea to move our planning and go help Bro Kuda. He told us to tell the Branch president and other leaders and then go. After we got everything we, picked up Kuda, who was in town explaining his situation to his boss, and the we left to Motupa. What once was a very green place full of mango trees and gum trees was now full of trees without leaves and houses without windows and roofs. When we got to Kuda's village, his was hit the worst, and he wasn't lying when he said his house was messed up. It took us 3-4 hours (not quite sure) to get everything cleaned up and livable again. We had to Clean out water and mud and hang up all his clothes, some of which we took home to wash for him. We had to clean up all of the leaves and branches from around his house, but eventually we got everything done. Things are relaxed now, but I tell you I had never seen so much damage done by a hail storm. The pieces of hail were about the size of golf balls.
After alot of thought and prayer we finally decide that Bro and Sister Mpofu were ready for baptism and they have showed it through the sacrifices they have made, and this Sunday Sister Tinashe and Bro Mpofu and his wife were all baptized for the remission of sins. It was pretty rewarding to see and I think it excited the brach a little bit. We had some investigators there to watch the baptism and I think it has done some good. On the other had, when we got to the service in Motupa we were disappointed to find that two of our awesome investigators were not at church. Bro Modika and Bro Samuel are some investigators we found last week, and they came to church without even a hesitation last week as well. This week unfortunately they were not there so we went to their home after Church to find quite a few people there sitting around Brother Modika, who was just starring off into space. After sitting down some asked if we had heard what happened and I replied that we did not know. They then continued to say that Bro Modika's son had been murdered on Saturday night. That was quite a shock and we decided that that was a pretty good reason to have missed church. We didn't know quite what to do so we just shared a few thoughts and then left them with a prayer. I hope things will be ok with their family. They could use our prayers.
On a lighter note, with the three baptisms we met our trimester goal of 9, with one month to spare.

Well I love you all.

Elder Jones

Our Newsletter full this week.
Jef Lun is getting married next week. Just is trying to finish the last few classes that are required for par-legal degree. Rh is still in Hawaii but will be back for Christmas. Devins brothers said he sucks at writing and if he does its like a paragraph and he seems to always be baptizing which was better then how their missions were. Yesterday they were all cleaning out their Moms attic of old stuff and so we got to see all of them. Sam I haven't heard anything newer then what I said last week and Cody loves college, Samantha loves college, Dallas loves college. Sarah R,Jamie R,Meg H & Brenton H, are all listed as getting or gotten married. Will is home some time in January. There are several of your high school friends who are returned missionaries that are requesting to be friends on facebook.
Winter is here with a vengeance and its dang stinking cold, there is still no coal available and we are getting a bit worried because we are going to maybe have to get a different inside heater. The basement is cleaned out pretty much and now Dad is trying to figure out what he is going to do to finish the floor. Dad got technical enough to figure out how to hook up netflix so we can watch movies over the Internet since he keeps forgetting to return ones that we rent and we have a bill that made me really upset and I told everyone no more rentals ever because he can't remember to return them but now we have got to figure out a new TV because the lap top is just to dang small to see and even really hear the show when its a family trying to watch. We have about talked everyone into just getting one big Christmas gift and that be a TV this year.
This week was tough starting on Tue C came being all frustrated because he was at 107 and couldn't drop even with all the hard wrestling that they were doing. The coaches really want him at 103 because there is a senior who is well known all over and they know that because C knows what he is doing he could be the only kid to beat this kid from Emery county. The only other kids that is on their team at that weight has never wrestled. Well we put him on a really strict smaller portion high protein diet and started him drinking water, finally by Sat morning he was at 103.4 at 5 am but the hydration test and weigh in was at 1:30pm so by that time because you weigh more in the afternoon he was back up to 104.3. They decided that he would wait one more week and keep hard working out and stay on a small high protein diet until next Saturday since they really only started working out last Thur. I am not sure that this will happen the kid has really no fat anywhere on him and he still has to grow some over the next few months. He has a much harder time going without food then you did. You should have seen him on Friday night he cooked food for everyone and washed dishes. He did not eat that night and finally I told him he should go to bed instead of torturing himself. We took Mc and the K and Z to the first wrestle tournament in Saline, Mc is so very very good at wrestling also. He almost took second but the kid he won beat him out of the spot in a round robin. K did take second but only because he had a bye. Z took forth because someone did not show up to wrestle so it gave him the medal that they had. They were all thrilled and so you know what its going to be like a bit more crazy with two boys wrestling practice at different times.
Oh today is Sunday and I am not sure why it has to be such a struggle to get to church all the time as of late. The boys stoked the stove but it didn't burn so in the morning there was not enough hot water for everyone to get clean. Then we have boys who drag the feet about getting ready and so we were almost late. Then the two oldest boys decided to sit out in the foyer. Dad and J were the ones that stayed home from lack of a shower. I got to teach a group of really wild primary 3 year olds as a sub this time because the new teachers had to be out of town. One of the little boys is from we think a part member family but we are not sure. I say we because Darren had made a comment in his testimony how it felt good to him to have Alonzo there to help him when they need to give blessings to those who are in need of comfort durning procedures. Then today as I went to walk into the primary the Mother of these little children that we were trying to figure out if they were members was introduced to me with her Hubby standing there. The person who was introducing said and oh this is Alonzo's wife the one who you met at the Hospital. Dad knew who I was talking about when I told him about it later after church and he said he wasn't sure but he thought that she was a member and he was not. Crazy thing is that the little kids know me from riding on the bus with them. Hopefully the missionaries will soon maybe have some people to teach the truth to here in our ward if they are only a part member family.
We received a very nice letter from your Mission Pres today. Telling us that you were prayerfully chosen to be a trainer and because of your obedience, hard work and faithfulness while serving there. I thought everyone had a chance to be a trainer but I guess that may not be so true based on the things that were said in the letter from your Mission Pres.
I guess the more things happen with you serving the more I realize that I do not know the process of what takes place in the process of a missionary. Please tell us all about your new companion and we are hoping that you were able to reach the goal of all the baptisms.
Love you have a great week and I hope that you are starting on some new people that need the gospel because those that you have been teaching were able to be baptized.
Love all of us

My Little Wrestlers

Mc in his stance take down and then his super good score that was so close. He was a great wrestler today Even if the kids won the next kid dropping Mc to third place.

Zane is just pleased as punch it get a medal even if it was for 4th place.

K boy the little heavy weight chest sitting on his opponent taking second place.

Family Mile and 5K running, Family exercises, Family activities, Family togetherness, Turkey Trot ya that's it!

The goal was out of 4 runners in our family one of us would win our Thanksgiving Turkey Dinner at a Turkey trot race. The picture story unfolds.

We are all bibed and ready to run keeping our coats on to stay warm and smiling in the cold still. Well some of us are smiling, there are some that want to race even when they do not feel really good enough to do that.
Mc stretching the calves in preparation to run a mile run to try his hand at winning a Turkey.
Racing bibs numbered 121 and 117 ready to run.
Mc came in third in his age group and has decided he needs to train more.
K was second and beat by a girl and he says that will never happen again he needs to train more too.


Z was a bit put out that we wouldn't let him try running. The problem was he had a nasty cough so we took a pic of him waiting around for the two to return.
Some tired runners but willing to try again on another day. Mc had thought about going the 5K with Mom and Dad but after that mile run he decided he was tired out.
Jer would also love to race with Dad and Mom but sorry that's not going to happen either. Nearing the finish line after running a full 5K run.
Alonzo choose to stay by my side and so we both got the same time.Reaching the finish line with all the boys cheering and running us in.
We didn't win a Turkey but we did get bananas and bagels and had lots of fun running around. These Photos are courtesy of J girl who doesn't want her photo taken today as she didn't get pretty at all and had rather messy hair she said. Two of our boys are missing for the day one of course is way to far away serving the Lord on an LDS mission and C boy was cheering his football team on at the state finals. In the end C boy wished he had come run with the fam.