Hello,

I'm thankful that I'm out of the hospital and I can send you my email.  Had a crazy week, as some of you know already.  Tuesday morning I started to pass another kidney stone and it got stuck.  The pain was horrible so we went to this little hospital in Bogor where I had a few tests and CT scans done and was able to get some pain medication.  I ended up having 4 more stones in my left kidney in addition to the one that was stuck.  

So they said I had to have surgery.  The only problem was, they didn’t have the tools or staff so I would have to wait for the next couple days so they could rent all the tools (scary right?).  

After hearing that, I had them give me some more pain medication and took a taxi to the mission home.  Then I went to Tangarang to a different doctor.  I had a kidney stone that was stuck in my urinary tract removed by laser procedure, and the remaining stones in my left kidney crushed by sound wave procedure.   It was funny, they didn’t put me to sleep and the doctor was really cool.   We listened to music while he was doing surgery and even took a selfie ;)  I got an epidural which was weird because there was no feeling and I couldn't walk.  The surgery took about two hours.   I got released from the hospital Sunday night. 

Questions we asked Tyler:

How was the procedure? It was okay.   There is a 50 percent chance of them coming back.  I'm supposed to  drink 3 liters of water a day. Did you like this hospital better? Yes it was a lot better the AZRA
Did you get a stint? I got a catheter 
Are you on pain pills? yes Are you on antibiotics? yes What happened after you rode the taxi from Bogor to the mission home? I went to the hospital
How long do you get to stay at the mission home? I’m still here.
Did any of the missionaries get to visit you in the hospital? the local missionaries did
Are you hurting? Yeah I’m hurting :( Did they put you out for it? No, I had an epidural Did they get all the stones? I’ll find out in 3 weeks when I go back.
When do you get transferred? August 11th

 I like the phrase "I can do hard things".   My mom used to say it so much before I left that it just drove me crazy and it was drilled into my head! But it’s true we can do hard things and it gets much easier when the Lord is on our side.  That’s why I don’t get scared on my mission, because I know the Lord is on my side and every trial I have, was put in my way because some part of my life needs to be polished up and improved!   That’s the point of this life isn’t it? To become better people and to improve others’ lives while improving ourselves.  That's what I'm learning on my mission for sure!

I got an awesome package from Aunt Kelly.  Tell her thank you so much!  It’s filled with food and candy and good stuff!  Made my day :)

I’ll send you more pictures when I get wifi at some point.

Well that’s my week.  I hope you and the family had a great week in Colorado!

Love Elder Jones

 

 

Week 27 - Bogor

WEEK 27 – July 20, 2014

Hi Everyone,

6 months in the mission has gone by!  Wow...  It's been a good week.

Here is a picture from the baptism of Sister Yuli.

P-day was good we had nothing planned but then a member called and invited us to go to an amusement park that was in the process of testing rides.  It was towards Jakarta.  We went and it was pretty fun! They didn’t have anything bigger than Gold Rush, but they had a ride that drops you vertically which are my favorite!!  Elder Mendrofa was so scared to ride any of them, but we got him to anyways!!



Elder Jones and McCleary defy gravity!

Tuesday

Today we taught Jimmy Simon (the guy Elder Hobbs and I met on the bus a few months ago) and then proselyted then came home because Elder Sadiyono was having an asthma attack so he came home and cooled down.

Wednesday

We went back to Jimmy Simon’s house because he wanted a Bible so we taught  him from the New Testament. You could really feel the spirit in the lesson! That night I had nasi goreng  for dinner.

Thursday

Last night’s nasi goreng  ripped through me like a ride from the amusement park on Monday ... completely destroyed my insides . Today we did our weekly planning which takes forever!  After that we went to Sister Lily’s house!  Off in the distance huge dark clouds were coming and we got soaked so bad coming home!  Just drenched but it was funny!

Friday

We had our District meeting which was 2 hours and then we taught English class.  I’m getting pretty good at teaching, except we only have 3 students right now.  After class we went to get padung for dinner.  Random meat in a really good sauce!

Saturday

We had a lesson with our new member which went great, and then we went contacting people.  Saturday was very slow, however.

Sunday

Well church was normal and good all the lessons were on don't be lazy! So that’s always a good one :)  Except our new baptized lady hasn't been to church since we baptized her :(  but we still meet each week so idk what’s going on there?  We had to clean the church and I spilt the whole mop bucket on the tile which took me 20 minutes to mop back up. 

A few more random things...

 Its ham that I found on the bottom shelf in an old chineese store!! You cant find ham ~!!! I might eat it....

  This week we found out that Elder Mendrofa has no idea who Hitler is or what the holocaust was (not the slightest idea)

My shower water holder thing was growing worms which were up to an inch long. That was gross!

 This volcano is called  gunung salak, do you see the smoke coming out?

This volcano is called  gunung salak, do you see the smoke coming out?

I'm getting pretty good at juggling!

Well, that's all for this week.  You asked me how has being out on my mission for 6 months changed me? 

My testimony has grown a lot.  My knowledge of the gospel has as well.   I’ve become more compassionate and patient and I speak another language and know about a lot of different religions.

I hope you all have a good week and be safe!

Elder Jones

P.S.  here are some pictures from last week

 

Week 26 - Happy 19th Birthday in Bogor, Indonesia!

Last week we ate at Burger King.  Indonesian's don't like to eat there...but it tasted good to me!  No pictures from this week because the wifi is out at the church.

Monday 

We didn’t do anything for p day last week.   We had a cool plan but it fell thru, so we cleaned the house and just slept, which is nice because we need to catch up.  During the month of Ramadan everything is closed. 

Tuesday 

For my birthday I got to go on a split with the Zone Leader.  We had 3 appointments and they all went very well. Elder Sadiyono was with the other Zone Leader and they had 3 lessons too.  After that we went to a member’s house for dinner! It was her birthday as well!  

We had Rendang for dinner.  Rendang is a spicy meat dish, usually beef, that’s full of spices like ginger, cumin and nutmeg.   I really like it :)  It was good birthday!  I also got a package from Annie and G’pa Bob.  Thank you so much!

Wednesday

Danny had a day off work so all 4 of the Elders went to Puncak again it was cool!  We went to the tea fields and it was all foggy and kind of cold.  It was also the presidential elections here so we had to avoid places with lots of people and big gatherings  because of the potential for riots.

Thursday

We had an appointment with  our Afghanistan investigator but he never showed up :(  I’m really sad about that.  We don’t know why and he doesn't have a phone.  So then we did our weekly planning and then proselytized and tried to get appointments for the next day.

Friday 

Today we taught our English class.   We taught about the “5 second rule”,  which apparently they don’t have in Indonesia.  Drop something on the ground and you have 5 seconds to pick it back up and eat it before it becomes dirty!  They thought that was funny!   That night we had dinner with a Muslim family and they were very nice.

Saturday 

All our scheduled lessons fell thru.  It’s hard to make plans and then have things not work out, but then again, that’s the life of a missionary and we have to be flexible.   I’m learning patience too!  I have a patience reserve now, that if it was water, could quench the Salt Lake!

Sunday 

It was an awesome rainy day!  Very cool temperature! Church was great! I had to teach Priesthood quorum and they told me about it 5 min before the lesson.   Our Afgan investigator didn’t show up.  I’m pretty bummed about him L

Tell everyone hi and that I love and miss them all! Talk to you next week!

Elder Jones

 

Week 25 -Bogor

Happy 4th of July everyone!

 Monday

We just hung out at the house cleaned it and relaxed got some`stuff organized and that evening at 7 we went to go get some mie ayam chicken soup so that was good and the food was free!

Tuesday

I was on a split with Mccleary because Mendrofa went to interview our investigator for baptism which she passed! We walked 4 miles to a members house which was fun! Then I found some keys on the road with a license so after our lesson we went to the address on the licence and  returned his keys. He was happy, good deed for the day.

Wednesday

We had an appt with Sister Lily and we usually just show up.   When we did her doors were open and a bunch of others were in there and she was praying with them,  so we figured we should leave.   Then we worked.  That night we played basketball which was lots of fun! We're gonna play every Wednesday at 8!

Thursday

That night I had another kidney stone episode which hurt freaking bad... but I toughed it out at home.


Friday

Fourth of July!! Never missed America so much!   We went to Jakarta for ZTM with the zone.  I got called to read the motto, but when I got up there I had my American flag socks on so I decided we would say the pledge :) Everyone who knew it liked it !

Saturday

I went on a split with the district leader Elder Mendrofa.

Sunday

I taught Young Men and Young Women's class because the teacher wasn't at church, but I think I did a good job. Sister Youlie got baptized today!! It was great the wifi isnt working or I would have sent pics I'll try next week.   I conducted the meeting because Bishop wasn't
there.. I did alright :) Eat some cheeseburgers and watermelon for me!

Love Elder Jones