Hello Everyone,

 

Hope you all had a great Christmas!  I have lots of pictures this week so I'll let them tell the story.  I've also added a few videos of what life in Indonesia is like!

Sometimes American food just "hits the spot"!

 

Christmas Eve hot chocolate and toffee.  Thanks mom!

  

Missionaries waiting to Skype their families

In my stocking was chips, peanut butter, peanuts, chocolate cinnamon bears!  It was great!

All the missionaries got to relax at the Mission Home.  It was nice!

Playing games



Indonesia is full of these blood sucking creatures!

taking a break :)

Yes, we are in the rainy season!



feet? heads? innards? or a mixed bucket of original recipe?

It was fun skyping with the family for Christmas.  Hope you all have a great week!  Happy New Year!

Love,  Elder Jones

Week 49 - Things missionaries have to deal with...

Hello Everyone,

YES!  This is a real sign on the wall of the bathroom

Who wants to hear about my toe surgery?  ha ha 

I have an awesome video of them taking my toenail off...but will spare you.  So, because of all the walking we do as missionaries, I got an ingrown toenail that got really infected so they had to take the whole nail off.  Elder Wills took the video for me.  I got to work in Flip Flops for a few days because I couldn't put shoes on.  That was kind of fun until it rained and my foot got soaking wet.  Stuff missionaries have to deal with!

 

Nice to see my MTC companion Elder Davies and a few other Elders and Sisters.  Christmas is coming this week and I'm excited to Skype home!

 

 

Ok Dad, here is a funny story for you.  Yesterday while we were at church and the power went off.  There are only 2 windows at the church and it was getting hot!  Since there was no power, no AC, and it was kind of dark in the church everyone started leaving and going home.  That didn't make the Bishop very happy.  The power never came back on so church was kind of shot yesterday.

 

How is Tithing Settlement going Dad?  I'm really impressed by all the members here who just don't have anything but faithfully pay their tithing.  There are lots of really good people in this world.

 

Thank you so much to everyone who has sent me Christmas cards, letters and packages this week!  They really mean a lot to me especially being so far from home during the holiday season.  Grandpa, all that dehydrated food was awesome, thanks!  Cool idea! 

 

Love,  Elder Jones

Week 48 - Mudslide

Hello Everyone,

So I guess you heard on the news there was a mudslide in Indonesia this week.  There weren't any missionaries in the area but that mud slide is right out side of Semarang in Banjarnegara.   It's really sad.  I have a few friends and people I know who live out there.

This week was really busy so I'm just sending a bunch of pictures of what downtown Jakarta looks like and a few of me and the other Elders.

Have a great week!  I can't wait to talk with you on Christmas Day!

Love,  Elder Jones

 

Week 47 - Be Thankful

Hi Everyone,

So for P-day this week it was... SHOTS SHOTS SHOTS EVERYBODY! (the song) (lagu-nya)

 We all got shots for the flu, took it like a champ and didn’t even get watery eyed!  Then we went ice skating again, it was fun! I’m pro, but we discussed that last week ha-ha!  

I got asked to take a picture with these high school kids and one of the girls says, " boleh paluk nggak ?" (can I hug you?) and I forgot what paluk means,  and I said,  "Boleh". "Yeah you can", and then she hugged me?!?!? and I was like... what the heck are you doing ?!?  It was an awkward missionary moment! :/

Merry Christmas in Indonesian

Thanks mom for the tree, decorations and presents :) I'm the missionary ornament at the top, see?

 One day this week we went to Ancol.  We spent 9 whole hours proselyting. It was intense!  Only got one contact that is interested.  I can't even tell you how hard the work is here.  Then we went out to the ocean and that’s always refreshing to get the ocean breeze. From the real thing other than my Old Spice ocean breeze body wash #swagger... (I have to make these jokes to keep the spirits up!)

Wait? How did I get on these?!

Then we went into a little kampung (village) next to the rail road station.  It is so poor out here. We need to ALL be thankful for what we have! :( The little kids out there are so cute and funny though! I bought 5 little kids ice-cream for only .60 cents American money! Crazy huh? Then 6 mangos for $1!

 

On Wednesday we woke up to a call at 7.... Yes we slept in ... my fault. (Good thing we have the Atonement). Anyways, woke up to a call from an investigator who wanted to meet with us that second!  So we jumped up and got ready in less than 5 minutes which was cool, then ran outside to the bus and meet up with our pal so he could tell us he didn’t want to learn again. So that made us sad. We also had 2 appointments later that night at the church.

On Sunday it was Stake Conference. It was great! I learned a lot and it’s nice to be fluent in the language now. I can actually understand all that is being said! Elder Randy D. Funk gave a great talk too! It was awesome to hear from a 70... After that we had lunch with Sister Ita from Bogor! I love them they are just great.  I miss serving in Bogor! It was so nice to see some old faces today! I also met with Elder Hasibuan, my trainer.  He gave a good talk in the meeting! 

I've included some pictures from our Thanksgiving dinner last week. 

Best food I've eaten in the last 11 months!

If you want to send me a Christmas card that would be awesome!  We love to get mail!

My address is:  Elder Tyler Glenn Jones, Jalan Senopati 115, Kebayoran Baru, Jakarta 12190, Indonesia

Have a great week!

Elder Jones

Week 46 - Thanksgiving In Jakarta

Ice skating on p-day

Jakarta traffic at night

Hello everyone,

Monday (p-day)

Today we went ice skating and it was awesome!  Im a pro ;) and I'm not even from Utah!  It must mean I took too many girls on ice skating dates ;)  Then after that we went to CARLS JR! It was so good and tasted like America :)
Later that night I lost Elder Prayitno by the bus! We were split up for 2 hours in Jakarta in the pouring rain.  It was funny but also scary.  Then after that we went and looked for people to teach

Tuesday

Today was alright.  We had an appointment with an investigator and that went well! Then later we went and proslyted again!

Wednesday

Today I went on a split with Elder Barrus! It was pretty good ... We went way far out in north Jakarta and met with an investigator who wants to get baptized.  Then we met with a guy in his news office. The office was great! It looked like something outta the Anchorman movie, all 70's and red carpet.  Everyone there smoking and it was just funny!!

Thursday

Happy Thanks giving :) ! Today was pretty good!  Sister Donald and Sister Lukerenie made thanksgiving dinner for us all.  It was the best food I've eaten in 11 months !!!! They are so wonderful! and I'm sure you'd be happy to know mom, me and Elder Wood and Elder Campbell were the only ones who stayed and did all the dishes :) Then later we had a solid appt fall through which was crumby .. but oh well got a few new contacts!

Friday

We had district meeting and then we had a little thanksgiving with our district which was very nice :) Then went to work ! We had english class later that day and that was fun.

Thank you Gretta and mom for the packages!   Life is good here and the work is progressing.

Love -Elder Jones

Week 45 - My best idea yet!

Had a good week in our new area.

For P-day we went to the mall close to Senopati and rode a 7 story tall slide! It was intense! And freaking fast! We had to wear cool suits and helmets! 

 

Then we just came home and cleaned things up and did laundry! Then we went shopping for food. I found tortillas, cheese, beans and salsa and I almost cried I was so excited to see those foods!  So, I bought them and I made burritos for dinner it was just amazing ... expensive but I had to get it!

One day I even  woke up and I made Breakfast burritos ;') life is great!

Even Sponge Bob wanted a picture with us!

We haven’t had many people to teach because this is a new area ... so I got this bright idea to go to this big tourist place called Kota Tua with the other Elders and we would sit and wait for people to ask to take pictures with us.  So we went there and It was a super success! We sat down and had people coming over to us wanting to know who we were and get a picture! After 4 hours of us just sitting, I gave out 5 copies of the Book of Mormon and got 17 contacts! It was my best idea yet! I think we will do this once a week!

Our crowd!

I got a letter saying my package from mom and dad was being held hostage at the main post office and I had to pay $20 to get it.... Not to mention $10 to get there by taxi >:( grrr and 10 bucks to get back! Freaking expensive.  Then the guy went thru my whole package and then did a crappy job taping it back up. Then said it was "just random" Then 2 of our appts fell thru... kind of a  tough day -_-

Some days are tough.  One day this week we spent the day riding the bus and nothing came out of it ... we were supposed to have a lesson at 5pm that night but the guy cancelled ... we were bummed but we went to McDonalds because Elder Prayitno had never been before! Crazy right? Anyways, he loved it!

On Friday we had Zone Training meeting.  We had to introduce all the new Elders so Elder Prayitno got up to do it and at the end of it he said "Elder Jones is my trainer and my slave driver".  He's a pretty funny guy. 

Zone Meeting

 We also had English class and had everyone bring candy for Thanksgiving! Sister Sheffield asked who knew the meaning of Thanksgiving and my investigator raised his hand and said all the Americans smoked peyote with the Indians! And he was totally serious. It was great ...... it’s hard to fit in lessons on Fridays cause we always have meetings.

English class is always fun

Church was short for us this week.  I blessed the sacrament in Indonesian, but then we went home cause Elder Prayitno was sick again.  We gave him a blessing that night.  He is doing better today. 

Questions:

How's the apartment hunting going? Haven’t started. We’re enjoying the mission home ha ha j/k
What’s a typical day in Jakarta working? Riding the bus, contacting people, trying to get investigators
Did my package to you come? Yep! Thank you!
If so, did you open it? Ha-ha nope it’s under my bed
Don’t open until November 30th if you have an apartment.  :-) ok thanks! What’s the slide at the mall pictures? Rode a crazy slide
W hy are you wearing helmets? Because it’s dangerous
Where are you with all of the elders/sisters at the church? Were at zone meetingWhat are your plans for Thanksgiving this week? Probably rice and eggs maybe a mango if I have money
Do you get a traditional dinner somewhere? hahahhahahahaha .... No
Have you had dinner at the mission home yet? Nope Do you miss your mom? Yes! What are you doing for p- day today? Going ice-skating 

Love you all!  Have a great week,

Elder Jones

 

 

 

Week 44 - Jakarta - If they ever offer you monkey kabobs, just say NO!

Hello from my new area!  We had a great week.

Monday (P-day)

We went to the other ward and played futsol! It was great playing with the whole zone! After futsol Elder Prayitno and Elder Baize and I went to Block M (it’s a place where they make fake everything) They bought some cool stuff!

The National Monument (Indonesian: Monumen Nasional, abbreviated Monas) is a 132 m (433ft) tower in the center of Merdeka Square, Central Jakarta, symbolizing the fight for Indonesia. It is the national monument of the Republic of Indonesia, built to commemorate the struggle for Indonesian

independence.

 

 

At the top of Monas

 

Wish this was the mission car...

This morning Elder Prayitno fell out of bed it was funny but scared us both! 

Tuesday 

Today we had a good appt with a guy from an island way far away! I think he is golden. He has a problem with smoking so I told him about how Christ performed miracles with the Priesthood.  I asked him if he believes in that?  He said he did, so I told him we would say a special prayer for him to stop smoking!  We said a prayer and then I asked for his cigarettes so he wouldn't be tempted anymore.  He hasn’t been smoking since ! He is so happy now! I'm looking forward to teaching him more.  Later that night when we came home from working, we met Elder Randy D. Funk of the Quorum of the Seventy and that was really cool! He actually served his mission here in Indonesia! 

Wednesday 

We had a special missionary lesson with Elder Funk, Brother John Tanner and Brother Gibson.  It was great!  We all learned a lot and I had to translate for my companion Elder Prayitno.  It was hard because they talk so fast, but challenging and fun to be able to do it! 

Thursday

We went proselyting then came home cause all the ZL's were coming to Senopati for MLC.

Friday 

Today we had DDM (Zone Conference).   Later that night I taught English class.   

THEN I GOT A PACKAGE from Leslee :))) Thank you so much It was perfect! I love the book too :) Thank you you’re the best !!! 

Saturday (if you're squeamish skip this paragraph)

I ate monkey.  It’s gross!  If you're ever at a restaurant and they offer you monkey kabobs...just say no!

There are lots of places you can eat cobra.  They even let you pick the one you want.  They will drain the blood into a cup and let you drink it and then fry up the meat.  Haven't tried that one yet...

which one looks yummy?

Questions:

Who is looking for an apartment for you and your comp? We are 

Do you have to go out and try and find one yourself? yes
Is there a ward in your area? No we will go to the Jakarta Ward
How do they decide when to open a new area? When they get 2 awesome Elders! J
How close will you live to the mission home? 1 ½ hours away
Will it be just you and Prayitno? Yep!
Do you help the AP’s do work? Yes every day. We are the AAP's (Assistant to the Assistants to the President) ha-ha!
Have you eaten dinner at the mission home? Not yet !
Do you ever go to the mission office? Every day 
Do you get your packages faster now? Yes!

Have a great week everyone!

Love,  Elder Jones