(Come and hear the voice of a prophet)
Well, this week has been a really slow week… mostly cuz the appointments that we have fall through at the last minute, or the people we go to visit aren’t home. So…ya, that’s been a little frustrating, but as is life and I’ve gotten a lot of HOPEFULLY good contacts…so we’ll find out next week.
Ok…so this really is sad, but I’m looking over what all I could write about, but there really isn’t too much. Almost all of our visits have fallen through, and the ones that we did have haven’t been all that exciting. Ah well, I’ll take ya through the few anyways…
We met with an elderly sister in the ward the other day who is the only member in her family who is still active in the church…her husband is REALLY old, and he can get around their house but I’m pretty sure he doesn’t come to church cuz he’s not able. Then all the children have married people in other religions have followed their spouse. So this little old lady comes to church every week alone, and was so happy to have us come visit her. I asked her if there was anything that we could help her with, right then or later, and that if she ever needed anything she could just call, and she actually started tearing up! She kept saying she didn’t need anything, but she must’ve been touched by my offer to help. Sis Lie was then touched by the lady, and she started crying during the visit, and then after we left, we had a good 1/2 hour conversation about her dad, and how she wants her dad to become like that little old lady, and also she was worried when she got old lady, and also she was worried when she got old that she wouldn’t be like that lady. So that was an interesting conversation, and hopefully I had good enough advice for her. But really…I feel incredibly blessed to not have to wonder IF I’ll still be going to church when I’m old cuz I KNOW from the examples of my grandparents that I will. I always feel like the luckiest member in Indonesia, cuz I have such an active ancestry in the church…I don’t have to wonder where I come from or where I’m going, because it’s already there…behind and in front of me. I have no doubts in my mind about that. So thank you family for your wonderful examples to me!
We met with that lady again this week, who I found out is named Ibu Yani (I dunno if I knew that or not last week…), and well…it was a little disheartening after having the Spirit there so strongly last week. We showed up, and there were again tons of people around, but this time she was joining in with them, smoking and everything (which was REALLY disheartening to Sis Lie), and when we asked if she had time to meet with us, she said she was busy and would be until after Easter…don’t ask me why Easter, but that’s what she said. So…ya. That was a bummer, but we’ll try again if we’re still here after Easter.
We didn’t meet with Chern last week (in Malaysia), Cherie (had family in town), or Israel (busy, getting ready for her trip to Malaysia next week). So ya. Like I said…pretty disheartening, but we’re meeting Chern on Friday, so I’m excited to see where that goes. I’m gonna try to set a baptismal date for her. I’m a little scared to do that, but I REALLY think she’s ready, and I don’t think she’s ever going set a date, so I’m just gonna go for it. Pray for her to have a soft heart!So, my bule experiences for this week are: I contacted a lady the other day, and that night she called the house and wanted her daughter to talk to me in English. I was really touched by that, and hopefully we’ll be able to set up an appointment with them next week. I also started to talking to a girl (who I thought was a boy, which was REALLY awkward when I realized she was a girl…she’s from Papua, and they’re basically from Africa…you really wouldn’t be able to tell the difference…anyways, so she had really short hair and a hat on…but when she talked, it was with a high voice. AWKWARD!) on the bus, and it ended up that she was going somewhere with 3 of her roommates, all Christian, and they each took a few pictures with me before I contacted them. So yes… hopefully we’ll have another for sure appointment next week. In a house full of girls, I’m hoping we can help them feel the Spirit and want to keep learning! I’ve come to this conclusion with Indonesians…they either hate or love bules. So, the church is incredibly smart to have both indos and bules here. The bules help get people interested who love bules, and the indos get everyone else who are REALLY just interested in the church. It’s a great system.
Although times get hard sometimes, I’m grateful that Heavenly Father always gives us another day, so things can get easier. The last 6 months (yes, I’m almost officially 1/3 of the way done with my mission…crazy!) have been the greatest roller coaster of emotions I’ve ever experienced, but I would never give a single moment of that up for any amount of money. I’ve always been lucky to have the people who surround me look out for me and help me through those difficult days…even if they didn’t know how to, they were just THERE, and that was enough. I feel like I’ve gained a lot of those friends here on the mission, and I’m so grateful for that. I’m especially excited to hear the voice of a prophet this weekend…3 times! I’ve been trying to prepare myself to be open and ready for any and all that the Holy Ghost will teach me through Elder Nelson, and hopefully I’m ready for this experience. We’ve been trying to get our investigators to come as well, but none of them can, and that makes me REALLY sad, because this really is such a chance of a lifetime almost…it’s been 10 years since President Hinckley came, and he was the last major authority. I’m lucky to be here! Anyways… thank you all so much for the prayers and support…I love you all so much, and know without a shadow of doubt in my mind that God loves each and every one of us, that Joseph Smith restored Christ’s church to the earth, and the Jesus Christ is my Savior and Redeemer and I owe everything I am to Him. Loves!
~Sister Sara
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Bagaimana kabarnya?
The weeks continue to fly by… and this one was another good one, with a lot of really good lessons. We met with Jesse, a member from California who has basically just been living here for the last 10 years for the heck of it, and his fiancé on Friday night. Jesse’s fiancé is Muslim, and he’s trying to get her interested in the church without forcing it on her. So, we met at the Millecam’s, had a very delicious, American dinner (Elder Millecam made meatloaf with potatoes and rolls…and rice, of course :), and then we talked about spiritual talents from Moroni 10, and hopefully that went ok. I think if she spends more time around the members, she might get more interested…which means Jesse is gonna hafta be patient with her.
We met with a lady who comes to the English class and has taken the discussions before, and well…it was totally and completely the worst lesson I’ve ever been in. she’s one of those people that LOVE to talk, so you’re afraid to ask any questions cuz they’ll go off for 30 minutes before you even get a CHANCE to interrupt and get back to the question that they STILL didn’t answer. Well…basically, she doesn’t believe in prophets (and yet somehow still believes the Bible is the word of God…PLEASE explain that to me? She tried to, but I didn’t understand much, and Sis Lie said she just beat around the bush with her answer anyways, so whatevs), and as soon as she said that, the small amount of the Spirit that had been there completely left the room. It was…oh man, I stuttered over all my words, and literally almost felt like I was gonna pass out. That might’ve been cuz the AC wasn’t working, but I also know it had to do with the loss of the Spirit. Ugh. She wasn’t working, but I also know it had to do with the loss of the Spirit. Ugh. She called later that night to tell us that she didn’t want to meet anymore, which I was ok with. Maybe she just needs some time…
And not Mas Dedewy is Brother Dedewy! Totally awesome, he had his baptism on Sunday, and it was really cool to meet with his parents the day before with all the missionaries from our ward, and hear his own mother testify about how much he’d changed since he started going to our church! I had a very distinct feeling that Brother Dedewy will become a great influence on his family, and they’ll be following soon.
Monday we had splits, and so me and Sis Mongan spent the whole day together. We met with this “crazy” guy who always calls our house with questions, and he was actually TOTALLY cool. He switched religions from Islam to Christianity about 2 or 3 years ago, and he soaks EVERYTHING in. He absolutely loves the New Testament, and if Sister Mongan said anything that he didn’t understand fully, he’d counter with scriptures from the NT, and then we’d read it, and Sis Mongan would explain how that WAS what she said, but he was not understanding completely. It was a really cool “lesson” to be a part of. We started with Lesson 1, but it turned into Sis Mongan giving basically the whole lesson, cuz he had so many questions that I didn’t understand and couldn’t quite help with, and she talked about Joseph Smith and the BofM at the end, and he called today and has already started reading it. So we’ll see how he comes along. He’s got spirit…that’s for sure.
Tuesday we didn’t have anything to do all day, so we were just proselyting the busway when I remembered that there was a lady in a neighborhood close to where we were who had said that we could come teach her…and then we forgot. So Sis Lie and I went and visited her, and had one of the most spiritual lessons I’ve ever had…complete with loud music in the background, people interrupting every few minutes (she owns a little “store” which is really just a few shelves with drinks, snacks, and cigarettes on it) to buy stuff, and quite a few men just coming to check out “the bule.” Hopefully she felt the spirit as well…we’ll find out next week how it goes. Hopefully she comes to church…but again, we’ll see!
That night we met with Israel, and man was that a ride. We watched The Restoration, and she LOVED it. As soon as it ended, she said, “Joseph Smith has inspired me to search out and find my own answer about which church is true!” After we had finished bearing our testimonies, the conversation transitioned into questions about what her friends have been telling her about our church… which just showed to me that Satan is certainly at work all over the world, stopping anyone who won’t seek out their own answer that our church is completely corrupt. It’s disgusting, and apparently the rumors are pretty serious here in Jakarta. However, she asked about polygamy, and THANK GOODNESS Elder Subandryo walked in right then, and so he was able to give the most perfect answer about that part of the history of this church that I’ve ever heard. It was simple, direct, and honest. His testimony after was amazing, as well, and now I have high hopes of becoming as good of a teacher as he is. Hopefully he helped Israel with her questions…I gave her the interenet addresses for the LDS websites, and told her that she can find whatever she wants about our church on the web, but if she wanted what we REALLY believe, that was her best source. We’ll meet next week and find out how that went…
Yesterday we went to Sis Mongan and Sis’s investigators, Ibu Desy, work to join in her aerobics class! Wow…and again, I was reminded of WHY I like running over that. It was so fast and ridiculous…no worries, I have film to prove that I should NEVER be forced to do anything like that in front of other people. After we were done, I had a man start talking to me about where I was from and why I was there, and found out that he owned one of the food places next to Desy. After he left from talking to me, he called Desy’s husband over to him (Desy’s husband was baptized last month, and he’s the reason why Desy got interested in the church, cuz she saw what a change for the better came over him after he started learning), and he told Desy’s husband to be careful with “that church” cuz it wasn’t a good church…luckily, Desy’s husband has become used to hearing that from other people (they haven’t been really closed about their learning about our church, and have the elders come and eat all the time), and just told the man that if he thought that, he was wrong and should learn about what the church is REALLY about. I was really proud of Desy’s husband, and her as well. She was telling us after that she doesn’t understand why everyone speaks so rudely about our church when she’s only seen good things come from it. But that’s just Satan at work…luckily there are people in this world who have been prepared to receive the Gospel, even with all the gossip from other people.
Well, that’s about it for me this week…I love and miss you all loads…but alas, I have been called to a Great and Marvelous work, and I love working in the Lord’s vineyard! AND NEXT WEEK WE MEET ELDER NELSON, so I’m REALLY happy to be here right now :P anywho, I hope all is well at home, and know that I’m always praying for you all. Loves!
~Sister Sara
We met with a lady who comes to the English class and has taken the discussions before, and well…it was totally and completely the worst lesson I’ve ever been in. she’s one of those people that LOVE to talk, so you’re afraid to ask any questions cuz they’ll go off for 30 minutes before you even get a CHANCE to interrupt and get back to the question that they STILL didn’t answer. Well…basically, she doesn’t believe in prophets (and yet somehow still believes the Bible is the word of God…PLEASE explain that to me? She tried to, but I didn’t understand much, and Sis Lie said she just beat around the bush with her answer anyways, so whatevs), and as soon as she said that, the small amount of the Spirit that had been there completely left the room. It was…oh man, I stuttered over all my words, and literally almost felt like I was gonna pass out. That might’ve been cuz the AC wasn’t working, but I also know it had to do with the loss of the Spirit. Ugh. She wasn’t working, but I also know it had to do with the loss of the Spirit. Ugh. She called later that night to tell us that she didn’t want to meet anymore, which I was ok with. Maybe she just needs some time…
And not Mas Dedewy is Brother Dedewy! Totally awesome, he had his baptism on Sunday, and it was really cool to meet with his parents the day before with all the missionaries from our ward, and hear his own mother testify about how much he’d changed since he started going to our church! I had a very distinct feeling that Brother Dedewy will become a great influence on his family, and they’ll be following soon.
Monday we had splits, and so me and Sis Mongan spent the whole day together. We met with this “crazy” guy who always calls our house with questions, and he was actually TOTALLY cool. He switched religions from Islam to Christianity about 2 or 3 years ago, and he soaks EVERYTHING in. He absolutely loves the New Testament, and if Sister Mongan said anything that he didn’t understand fully, he’d counter with scriptures from the NT, and then we’d read it, and Sis Mongan would explain how that WAS what she said, but he was not understanding completely. It was a really cool “lesson” to be a part of. We started with Lesson 1, but it turned into Sis Mongan giving basically the whole lesson, cuz he had so many questions that I didn’t understand and couldn’t quite help with, and she talked about Joseph Smith and the BofM at the end, and he called today and has already started reading it. So we’ll see how he comes along. He’s got spirit…that’s for sure.
Tuesday we didn’t have anything to do all day, so we were just proselyting the busway when I remembered that there was a lady in a neighborhood close to where we were who had said that we could come teach her…and then we forgot. So Sis Lie and I went and visited her, and had one of the most spiritual lessons I’ve ever had…complete with loud music in the background, people interrupting every few minutes (she owns a little “store” which is really just a few shelves with drinks, snacks, and cigarettes on it) to buy stuff, and quite a few men just coming to check out “the bule.” Hopefully she felt the spirit as well…we’ll find out next week how it goes. Hopefully she comes to church…but again, we’ll see!
That night we met with Israel, and man was that a ride. We watched The Restoration, and she LOVED it. As soon as it ended, she said, “Joseph Smith has inspired me to search out and find my own answer about which church is true!” After we had finished bearing our testimonies, the conversation transitioned into questions about what her friends have been telling her about our church… which just showed to me that Satan is certainly at work all over the world, stopping anyone who won’t seek out their own answer that our church is completely corrupt. It’s disgusting, and apparently the rumors are pretty serious here in Jakarta. However, she asked about polygamy, and THANK GOODNESS Elder Subandryo walked in right then, and so he was able to give the most perfect answer about that part of the history of this church that I’ve ever heard. It was simple, direct, and honest. His testimony after was amazing, as well, and now I have high hopes of becoming as good of a teacher as he is. Hopefully he helped Israel with her questions…I gave her the interenet addresses for the LDS websites, and told her that she can find whatever she wants about our church on the web, but if she wanted what we REALLY believe, that was her best source. We’ll meet next week and find out how that went…
Yesterday we went to Sis Mongan and Sis’s investigators, Ibu Desy, work to join in her aerobics class! Wow…and again, I was reminded of WHY I like running over that. It was so fast and ridiculous…no worries, I have film to prove that I should NEVER be forced to do anything like that in front of other people. After we were done, I had a man start talking to me about where I was from and why I was there, and found out that he owned one of the food places next to Desy. After he left from talking to me, he called Desy’s husband over to him (Desy’s husband was baptized last month, and he’s the reason why Desy got interested in the church, cuz she saw what a change for the better came over him after he started learning), and he told Desy’s husband to be careful with “that church” cuz it wasn’t a good church…luckily, Desy’s husband has become used to hearing that from other people (they haven’t been really closed about their learning about our church, and have the elders come and eat all the time), and just told the man that if he thought that, he was wrong and should learn about what the church is REALLY about. I was really proud of Desy’s husband, and her as well. She was telling us after that she doesn’t understand why everyone speaks so rudely about our church when she’s only seen good things come from it. But that’s just Satan at work…luckily there are people in this world who have been prepared to receive the Gospel, even with all the gossip from other people.
Well, that’s about it for me this week…I love and miss you all loads…but alas, I have been called to a Great and Marvelous work, and I love working in the Lord’s vineyard! AND NEXT WEEK WE MEET ELDER NELSON, so I’m REALLY happy to be here right now :P anywho, I hope all is well at home, and know that I’m always praying for you all. Loves!
~Sister Sara
Friday, February 12, 2010
Pictures
Me and Plaentina Baptism Day!
December 13, 2009
Zone ConferenceDec '09
West Java
Just FYI--you can't get more Indonesian than this! :) New Years
Our Christmas Tree-A water jug with paper and decorations (provided by Sister Millecam and decorated by Sister Mongan and Okamoto). Dec '09
Me and My new friend--I call him "Batu" (stone) :)January 13, 2010
Sorry, I know this is blurry, but I think its fun. Its me with Didi, the Subandryo's daughter who is 15-she's fun
Sorry, I know this is blurry, but I think its fun. Its me with Didi, the Subandryo's daughter who is 15-she's funDec 22, 2009
At the zoo on Pday
All us sisters with Sis O's investigator, Iriana @ the RIDICULOUS funeral home--seriously. It was insane what they have here. More of a party house than funeral home.
At the zoo on PdayMe and Sis Lie
January 13, 2010
All us sisters with Sis O's investigator, Iriana @ the RIDICULOUS funeral home--seriously. It was insane what they have here. More of a party house than funeral home.Jan. 6, 2010
Kesabaran--sorry this is late, sent 2/4
Well, this week was rather…interesting. I feel like I’ve had so many ups and downs that it’s getting hard to figure out how I REALLY feel every day. But I’m finally to the point that I’ve decided I just need to ENJOY this mission…every bad moment right along with the good. And that has certainly helped me a ton. As has patience. If I’m not on my mission or any other thing, patience has got to be it. And I’m learning more about that virtue every day, and I know it’s already making me better and more effective as a missionary.
I finally had a appointment with Cherie and PJ yesterday! It went really, really well. We just gave a quick version of the Restoration lesson, and Sister Lie did a great job of bearing her testimony about the temple and wanting be sealed with her family, especially her father who is not a member but says he will join when she gets home from her mission. PJ is working towards getting his endowments in a year, and so we went over all the different things he needs to do in order to accomplish that goal, and after a while he said, “I feel like this lesson is more for me than it is for Cherie.” Well, he was right, and so I flat out told him that I think Cherie will naturally join the church once he shows he has a desire to live the standards that he “believes.” When I said that, Cherie just kinda nodded her head and smiled, and so…ya, I think those two are going to work out just great if PJ keeps his focus on the temple and living the gospel. I also felt very touched when he asked if I was going to still be in Jakarta in June when his parents are coming to visit, because he wants me to meet them. As far as I’m concerned, that’s the greatest compliment you can get from anyone, so that made me feel good.
Our appointment with Chern went good as well. She still thinks more than she feels, but we’ll keep working on her. I think once she’s baptized, she’ll be able to feel more than she thinks, but she’s gotta get that gift of the Holy Ghost to help her be able to do that! We talked about Christ’s foreordination as our Savior last week, and tomorrow we’ll be learning about His life…so hopefully that goes well. Next week is going to be on the Atonement, and that’s the real thing I wanna focus on. So we’ll get there.
Sis went to the hospital again on Saturday from sharp pains…and they told her she had 3 more stones! Then she went back a few days later and the doctor said she really only has 1 (I guess the one test is better than the other?), and she’s convinced it’s still left over from the first one, but we dunno. Kasihan! (poor thing)
Sunday, I spent the night over at Sister Ani’s house. Sister Ani joined the church about 2ish years ago, and she worked a lot with Elder and Sister Reber, the employment specialists for Indonesia who went home right before Christmas. At church on Sunday, Ani went over to Sister Millecam and just started bawling… she’d received a letter from Sister Reber, but it was in English so she couldn’t understand the whole thing, but she wanted Sister Millecam to tell Sister Reber hello, and while she was talking to Sister Millecam, Ani just started BAWLING. It was the saddest thing. I guess Sister Reber called Ani every Friday and asked how she was doing, and they’d have a little conversation, and Ani would go to their house every once in a while…and they just had a really great friendship. So Sunday night Sis Lie and I went to Ani’s, and we wrote a letter from Ani that I translated into English for Sister Reber. And while we were there, Ani started bawling again. She was so funny…she told me, “I don’t know why I’m crying so hard about Sister and Elder Reber going home… I NEVER cried like this over any of my boyfriends that I’ve ever had!” I told her that was just a sign of a deep friendship, and that a lot of it had to do with the gospel, and how close we become through our friendships in the church. Because in the church, it’s not just about the worldly things. It’s deeper than that. This church is about friendships and family, and we share experiences that are spiritual and personal to us. And we serve one another, and we help one another become better… and that’s why we’re such a tightknit group of “a peculiar people”…because of those connections. I was really happy we had the opportunity to serve Ani by writing that letter…I know it means the world to her.
So I got the letters this week from mom with the inclusion of Elder McCombs… and holy cow. I’m not worthy to serve a mission if that’s what I’m supposed to become. He’s incredible! I was so impressed with everything that he said, that I had Sis read it, and she was possibly even more impressed than I was. Missions really are an amazing event in our lives that make us focus on those things that are the most important, as Elder McCombs said. However, I can’t word things at all like he does, so I’ll just say amen and tell you to tell Bro. & Sis. McCombs that they’ve got a good one there. I KNOW the people of South Africa are being blessed tenfold for having someone so intuitive and worthy to be serving them.
So funny story… yesterday we were visiting a member at her work (she owns a plant shack in the parking lot of a mini-mall place), and as she was helping a customer, I went to look at some different plants, and a man came over and started talking to me about the plant. I thought he was a seller for the other plant place that is next door to our member’s, but when I asked him about it, he just laughed and said of course he wasn’t, and them kept talking about the plant. Apparently it had some sort of fruit that grew on it, and so he was telling me about that and where I needed to go to try it cuz it was REALLY good, and then we talked about me taking a plant home with me to America and whatnot, and before I had a chance to try and contact him, he said goodbye and walked into the mall. About 10 minutes later, we were talking to the member again, and the man walked out, gave me a bag, said “this is the fruit,” and walked right back into the store. We waited for him for a while, and even tried to search for him, but I never saw him again :( but he had bought me 2 dragonfruits…after I saw the fruit, I understood what he’d meant before, I’d just not known the name in Indonesian. So that was so sweet of him, and I felt awful that I hadn’t had the chance to give him my own present :( maybe we’ll meet again.
Tuesday night, we went to the Subandryo’s for dinner. They like us to bring our investigators over to eat, so the elders and sis and sis mongan had a few investigators there, but sis lie and I had nobody. Then, elder Subandryo walked in the door and said there was a girl in the internet café just up the street who had lived in America for 4 years, and that we should go invite her to dinner. So Sis and I went and talked to her about America for a bit, and then she came over for dinner. Sis Mongan and Sis were watching “The Living Christ” with their investigators, and so we invited Israel to stay and participate in that. And participate she did! She’s awesome, and she is really open to learn. Apparently she’s had a rough year, but her faith has grown a ton in the Savior and His Love for her, so that’s an AWESOME start for us to come in and teach her about His Restored Gospel. I’m excited to meet with her again! And it just goes to show that if you open your mouth at any time and at any place, the Lord will bless you. One of the elders started a conversation with Israel, and that’s how they found out all this info about her, and now we get to start teaching her. The Lord’s Hand is certainly in this work.
Well, it’s time to head..i love you all so much! Dad, happy birthday tomorrow! I hope ya have a good one! Dada,
~Sister Sara
Happy Valentines Day!
The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away… and in my case, I’m glad He took people out of my life who only cause problems, and has instead given me blessings beyond what I deserve.
We didn’t meet with Cherie and PJ this week, but PJ got a calling as a Sunday school teacher, so he came on Sunday! But Cherie didn’t, so now I’m gonna hafta start pushing more for her to start coming to church with PJ, and getting her more involved there. The time is just so short…I know I’ll be getting moved soon (possibly after Singapore in March, is my guess), and I want Cherie and PJ in a solid situation before I leave!We met with Chern last week, and had possibly the best discussion yet. It was about Christ’s life, and she really seems to understand things pretty well. I was all hyped up and excited to meet with her this week, but when I called me to make sure that we still had an appointment, I found out that we had had a miscommunication, so we weren’t able to meet…and I was SOOOO mad at myself for that. People…this is why you don’t text. Cuz things are never as clear over text as they are when you talk on the phone. So we weren’t able to meet one more time before she leaves for Malaysia to visit her parents, but she’ll be getting back just in time for Elder Nelson, and we HAVE to meet before that meeting. I’m also worried about leaving Chern anytime soon…she’s SOOO close, it’s only a matter of time. But I’m going to leave her strong if it’s the last thing I do!
We’ve met with this one lady, Ibu Visinsia, a few times, and…well, it’s an interesting situation, but she basically only likes to meet with Sis and me cuz we’re Bules, and her grandson and daughter come to our English class. But we’ve been taking turns going to their house, and I told Sis Lie last week that if we went and all they wanted to do was feed us and talk about who knows what like they always do, we weren’t going back again, cuz it was a waste of time. However, when we went last week, it was Ibu Visinsia, her husband, and her daughter that all sat in with us, and all listened to the Plan of Salvation and seemed to understand it pretty well. I don’t think the other two are reading the BofM, but Ibu Visinsia had read bits and pieces of it, and so she had some fun and interesting questions that we got to try and answer. It ended up being a really good appointment, and hopefully they’ll just get more and more interested (although I have a feeling they might fall into the “Eternigator” category, cuz their church is at the same time as ours, so they basically refuse to come to our church…even tho their church has like 5 times to choose from…) and keep following thru with the commitments. We’ll see!
I think I mentioned last week that we were going to start teaching a girl named Israel that we randomly met (or I should say the Elders did), and we’ve taught her twice since then. We taught her the restoration lesson on Tuesday night, and then today we did the Plan of Salvation. She is GOLD. She has questions, but it’s more or less about who people are, and how it correlates with the Bible, but their still questions that I love! After we taught the Restoration lesson, she wanted to read the full account from Joseph Smith, so we gave her the pamphlet that we have with that in it, and so then today she was asking who Moroni was, and how he fit into the picture, and then a bit about Oliver Cowdery as well…she’s sharp, and she likes it when we explain things to her so it’s more clear. It’s been great teaching her, and we’ll be teaching her again on Monday at the Millecam’s, so I’m excited to see where she goes!
Haha, I almost forgot…so I got my hair cut the other day at a beauty school, and MAN! The haircut isn’t bad, no worries, but the girl that cut my hair looked/acted like she wanted to kill herself the whole time! I felt so bad…here I was, this bule getting my hair cut by a poor little lady from Medan who has probably never cut a bule’s hair before, which can only add more stress…but it turned out fine, and hopefully she’s still alive, haha. It really was funny tho… we walked in, and when Sis Lie told the lady at the front desk that we wanted hair cuts, the lady looked at me, then turned back to Sis Lie and said, “You know this is a SCHOOL, right? These AREN’T professionals.” Haha. I think she was worried about having a bule there. Man alive. It’s crazy being in a country where skin color can mean so much!
So for FHE, we met with Sister Suhendro, a cute little old lady in the branch who reminds me SOOO much of you, Grandma! She is adorable. She joined the church with her husband and kids in the early 70’s, and all are still in the church, and most (if not all…I’m not sure) have served missions when they’re old enough. She also served a senior mission about 10 years ago (after her husband died), and she told me she did that to set the example for her grandkids. She has such the funniest sense of humor…I only wish I could understand her better so I could laugh harder, but everyone else always laughs whenever she says anything, cuz she’s just funny, just like you Grandma. Always loving and ready to help with anything she can. She actually even had her next door neighbor over with her 2 kids on Monday, and afterwards we found out the they’re Muslim, so that was REALLY cool, and she said she’s gonna keep trying to share about the Gospel with them. SO COOL! Just goes to show, you’re never too old to share the Gospel…I believe she’s 78. She told me, but I forgot. All I remember is that she’s a few years younger than Grandma, so 78 is my best guess. So cool!
Well, that’s basically my last week in a nutshell. We’re hopefully going to be meeting with a few of our contacts this week… FINALLY! We haven’t had too much success with our contacts, but I’m gonna try to focus more getting those appointments, cuz we NEED them.
Oh…I thought of one other thing. Sis and Sis Mongan will get an addition in the next few days (or weeks…we’re not quite sure when). One of the missionaries from Bandung is being transferred to Jakarta, so that’ll be an interesting experience. I dunno how they feel about that, since they get along REALLY well, and have a lot of good things going for them, and this other missionary is said to be one of the tougher sisters to be comps with, but I’m sure if anyone can still have success, it’s Sis and Sis Mongan. We’ll see how it goes! But I’m not gonna lie…I’m just glad she’s not joining me and Sis Lie, cuz we’re just starting to get used to each other, and having a third person would only throw things off even more. Phew!
Happy Valentine’s on Sunday! It’s always a good chance to tell the ones you love that you love them…so I want to tell you all how much I love and appreciate all of you and the support, prayers, and letters. I really am blessed beyond what I should have, and I’m immensely grateful for that. I hope you all have a good week, and remember that I love and miss you tons! However, this is the Lord’s work, and I’m beyond happy to do my part in helping move that along. It truly is a great and marvelous work, and although it’s NOT easy, it IS important, and it IS what I’m supposed to be doing right now. I have no doubt in my mind about that, and I’m grateful for the trust that God has put in me to do this for Him…hopefully I don’t let Him down! Loves~
~Sister Sara
We didn’t meet with Cherie and PJ this week, but PJ got a calling as a Sunday school teacher, so he came on Sunday! But Cherie didn’t, so now I’m gonna hafta start pushing more for her to start coming to church with PJ, and getting her more involved there. The time is just so short…I know I’ll be getting moved soon (possibly after Singapore in March, is my guess), and I want Cherie and PJ in a solid situation before I leave!We met with Chern last week, and had possibly the best discussion yet. It was about Christ’s life, and she really seems to understand things pretty well. I was all hyped up and excited to meet with her this week, but when I called me to make sure that we still had an appointment, I found out that we had had a miscommunication, so we weren’t able to meet…and I was SOOOO mad at myself for that. People…this is why you don’t text. Cuz things are never as clear over text as they are when you talk on the phone. So we weren’t able to meet one more time before she leaves for Malaysia to visit her parents, but she’ll be getting back just in time for Elder Nelson, and we HAVE to meet before that meeting. I’m also worried about leaving Chern anytime soon…she’s SOOO close, it’s only a matter of time. But I’m going to leave her strong if it’s the last thing I do!
We’ve met with this one lady, Ibu Visinsia, a few times, and…well, it’s an interesting situation, but she basically only likes to meet with Sis and me cuz we’re Bules, and her grandson and daughter come to our English class. But we’ve been taking turns going to their house, and I told Sis Lie last week that if we went and all they wanted to do was feed us and talk about who knows what like they always do, we weren’t going back again, cuz it was a waste of time. However, when we went last week, it was Ibu Visinsia, her husband, and her daughter that all sat in with us, and all listened to the Plan of Salvation and seemed to understand it pretty well. I don’t think the other two are reading the BofM, but Ibu Visinsia had read bits and pieces of it, and so she had some fun and interesting questions that we got to try and answer. It ended up being a really good appointment, and hopefully they’ll just get more and more interested (although I have a feeling they might fall into the “Eternigator” category, cuz their church is at the same time as ours, so they basically refuse to come to our church…even tho their church has like 5 times to choose from…) and keep following thru with the commitments. We’ll see!
I think I mentioned last week that we were going to start teaching a girl named Israel that we randomly met (or I should say the Elders did), and we’ve taught her twice since then. We taught her the restoration lesson on Tuesday night, and then today we did the Plan of Salvation. She is GOLD. She has questions, but it’s more or less about who people are, and how it correlates with the Bible, but their still questions that I love! After we taught the Restoration lesson, she wanted to read the full account from Joseph Smith, so we gave her the pamphlet that we have with that in it, and so then today she was asking who Moroni was, and how he fit into the picture, and then a bit about Oliver Cowdery as well…she’s sharp, and she likes it when we explain things to her so it’s more clear. It’s been great teaching her, and we’ll be teaching her again on Monday at the Millecam’s, so I’m excited to see where she goes!
Haha, I almost forgot…so I got my hair cut the other day at a beauty school, and MAN! The haircut isn’t bad, no worries, but the girl that cut my hair looked/acted like she wanted to kill herself the whole time! I felt so bad…here I was, this bule getting my hair cut by a poor little lady from Medan who has probably never cut a bule’s hair before, which can only add more stress…but it turned out fine, and hopefully she’s still alive, haha. It really was funny tho… we walked in, and when Sis Lie told the lady at the front desk that we wanted hair cuts, the lady looked at me, then turned back to Sis Lie and said, “You know this is a SCHOOL, right? These AREN’T professionals.” Haha. I think she was worried about having a bule there. Man alive. It’s crazy being in a country where skin color can mean so much!
So for FHE, we met with Sister Suhendro, a cute little old lady in the branch who reminds me SOOO much of you, Grandma! She is adorable. She joined the church with her husband and kids in the early 70’s, and all are still in the church, and most (if not all…I’m not sure) have served missions when they’re old enough. She also served a senior mission about 10 years ago (after her husband died), and she told me she did that to set the example for her grandkids. She has such the funniest sense of humor…I only wish I could understand her better so I could laugh harder, but everyone else always laughs whenever she says anything, cuz she’s just funny, just like you Grandma. Always loving and ready to help with anything she can. She actually even had her next door neighbor over with her 2 kids on Monday, and afterwards we found out the they’re Muslim, so that was REALLY cool, and she said she’s gonna keep trying to share about the Gospel with them. SO COOL! Just goes to show, you’re never too old to share the Gospel…I believe she’s 78. She told me, but I forgot. All I remember is that she’s a few years younger than Grandma, so 78 is my best guess. So cool!
Well, that’s basically my last week in a nutshell. We’re hopefully going to be meeting with a few of our contacts this week… FINALLY! We haven’t had too much success with our contacts, but I’m gonna try to focus more getting those appointments, cuz we NEED them.
Oh…I thought of one other thing. Sis and Sis Mongan will get an addition in the next few days (or weeks…we’re not quite sure when). One of the missionaries from Bandung is being transferred to Jakarta, so that’ll be an interesting experience. I dunno how they feel about that, since they get along REALLY well, and have a lot of good things going for them, and this other missionary is said to be one of the tougher sisters to be comps with, but I’m sure if anyone can still have success, it’s Sis and Sis Mongan. We’ll see how it goes! But I’m not gonna lie…I’m just glad she’s not joining me and Sis Lie, cuz we’re just starting to get used to each other, and having a third person would only throw things off even more. Phew!
Happy Valentine’s on Sunday! It’s always a good chance to tell the ones you love that you love them…so I want to tell you all how much I love and appreciate all of you and the support, prayers, and letters. I really am blessed beyond what I should have, and I’m immensely grateful for that. I hope you all have a good week, and remember that I love and miss you tons! However, this is the Lord’s work, and I’m beyond happy to do my part in helping move that along. It truly is a great and marvelous work, and although it’s NOT easy, it IS important, and it IS what I’m supposed to be doing right now. I have no doubt in my mind about that, and I’m grateful for the trust that God has put in me to do this for Him…hopefully I don’t let Him down! Loves~
~Sister Sara
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Beruntung :)
Whew…where to start this week, huh? Well, zone conference is good. As usual, it was inspiring, and actually EXACTLY what I needed. Pres had Elder & Sister Paul from Honk Kong come and talk to us…a psychiatrist and nurse. They talked about stress and anxiety, and it’s effects on a mission, basically telling us that what we’re feeling is normal (I think maybe cuz pres was sick of telling so many missionaries the same thing, but no one believes him cuz he doesn’t have the PH.d). they talked a lot about how to bring down the stress level…which was basically to just remember that everyone has their agency, and as long as we do our very best, that’s good enough. Which…I think was good, but I also thought they should’ve pointed out that we’re supposed to always STRIVE to become perfect, even tho actually becoming perfect is obviously not possible. But whatevs…it was good. Pres talked about death, cuz his 91 yr old mom died the week before (sorry dad…he already had a pre-need plan for her at another mortuary…but I tried :P). it was good, and definitely gave me a good boost for the last week… cuz I NEEDED it.
The sad news for the week is that Indri’s baptism is off. Hopefully just postponed, but most likely off. I’m not gonna go into details, but we’re not quite sure how much of her story is true, and we’ve spent the last week chasing after her. So now we’re done chasing, and ready to get back to work… which means contacting because we don’t have ANYBODY. I’ve been REALLY frustrated lately because we can’t seem to get ANY appointments with any of our contacts, while Sis and Sis Mongan have at least 2 or 3 every day. I know we’re not supposed to compare ourselves…but it’s kinda hard when we go thru our entire contact list and not a single person will meet with us, and they try 5 people, and get appointments with 4 of them. Ugh. Ya…I’ve been frustrated the last few days, and possibly a little depressed. But I’m trying to push thru that and just keep talking to people, and keep worrking to try and find those people who WILL listen to us. Actually… I have a testimony that that will happen, just from our experience yesterday…here’s the story.
Yesterday we had nothing, so we went to a big mall out by Chern’s house where Sister Mongan said there are a lot of Christians. But, we found that there aren’t any good central places to sit and find people to contact (other malls have fountains in the middle of them or some place that you can just sit and wait for people to sit next to you to start a conversation), altho sis lie did contact one person, which was totally awesome. I think I just hate shopping without a purpose too much to be good at it..but anywho, we left there and were sitting the bus station for about an hour, and I had one Muslim lady who invited me to her house just so she could have a bule there, and another Christian lady who I think I scared somehow (luckily sis lie contacted her later…ugh), which got me thinking about how I’ve been here for 3 months…and I’m totally sick of people who either hate me because I’m a bule, or are just overly excited to be talking to a bule in Indonesian…where all they want is pictures and to touch my skin (yes, skin DOES feel the same, no matter what color it is, people :P). it’s fine if that happens and I get a good contact out of it every once in a while, but…ugh, I was just really frustrated. So I prayed and asked Heavenly Father to help me to find some good contacts, and find someone who could help bring my spirits up. On the way back to our usual proselyting areas, I had the thought that we were passing by Ibu Agnus’ house, one of the 2 lessons we’ve taught with our contacts, and it’d been over a month since we’d been able to meet with them cuz they’re always busy. So I told Sis Lie we should go there and just drop in. she didn’t like the idea at first, but she finally gave in, and we went…and it was AWESOME. We just followed up with them and shared a scipture, but they had a lot of questions, and the father has been praying about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon, and he’d read almost all of 3rd Nephi… not to mention that I understood FAR more this time than the last time. So we tried to answer all his questions, and even Ibu Agnus was more involved in this lesson than she had been in the last (she was REALLY quiet in the last one, but this time she read scriptures and asked a few of her own questions, so that was really good!). so then I was able to go home feeling FAR better about things. Thank goodness I have a Heavenly Father who hears and listens to my prayers, especially when I need them the most!
Another funny story…while at this mall, I was looking at movies, and I found CHURCHBALL! And then I freaked out. Lol. Who would’ve thought? Churchball in Indonesia? I was gonna buy it for Sis Lie, but it was a bad copy so I didn’t…but I just thought that was a funny, random thing to find here.Today we went to the national museum for pday, and that was fun. Remember that picture that steve found on the internet right after I got my call, mom? I now know that that is a tribe in Papua, and the reason behind their “dressings.” Haha, I told sis about that, and she just laughed.
I met with Chern last week, and I had Bro Hunter come as well, since I wanted to hear about their trip, and plus I think it’s good for him to be there every once in a while. We had a good discussion on our eternal families. But now we’re going to focus on her testimony of Christ. She comes from a Bhuddist background, so I don’t know that she has a true understanding of Christ and His Atonement…and without that…ya, why would you get baptized? So we’re really gonna be working on that the next few weeks, and hopefully that helps with her. Bro Hunter is such an awesome guy…and I know what her getting baptized would mean to him, so I want to help them as much as I possibly can to become the eternal family that they both want! I’m meeting with both Chern and Cherie this weekend, so hopefully those will keep being regular weekly appointments, and I can help both the families become eternal. I feel like that’s a lot of the reason that I’m still here in Jakarta…to work with these two families, and I’m so grateful for that opportunity. Sis lie is always really nervous to talk in them, but she does a good job, and she understands most of what’s going on.
One of the elders told me that our Singapore “trip” has been moved to March…so I should still be here for both the zone trip AND Elder Nelson! Woohoo! I’m so excited! I especially excited for Elder Nelson. I read a talk by him that I’m going to have Chern read about Christ and His Atonement, and…holy cow. Definitely the words of a man called of God. It’s gonna be a great experience to be here when he comes and visits Indonesia, and I’m grateful I get to be here for that.Well…time is running short. But time is also going by fast. I’m almost at 5 months now…almost 1/3 done! Craziness. But I’m grateful for this experience, and especially for family and friends who support me so much. I know your prayers truly are answered when it comes to me…cuz I’m still here, still kicking, still working hard. There’s no way I would be able to do any of this without the support of all of you. So thank you so much…I love you all so much! Have a good week, loves~
~Sister Sara
The sad news for the week is that Indri’s baptism is off. Hopefully just postponed, but most likely off. I’m not gonna go into details, but we’re not quite sure how much of her story is true, and we’ve spent the last week chasing after her. So now we’re done chasing, and ready to get back to work… which means contacting because we don’t have ANYBODY. I’ve been REALLY frustrated lately because we can’t seem to get ANY appointments with any of our contacts, while Sis and Sis Mongan have at least 2 or 3 every day. I know we’re not supposed to compare ourselves…but it’s kinda hard when we go thru our entire contact list and not a single person will meet with us, and they try 5 people, and get appointments with 4 of them. Ugh. Ya…I’ve been frustrated the last few days, and possibly a little depressed. But I’m trying to push thru that and just keep talking to people, and keep worrking to try and find those people who WILL listen to us. Actually… I have a testimony that that will happen, just from our experience yesterday…here’s the story.
Yesterday we had nothing, so we went to a big mall out by Chern’s house where Sister Mongan said there are a lot of Christians. But, we found that there aren’t any good central places to sit and find people to contact (other malls have fountains in the middle of them or some place that you can just sit and wait for people to sit next to you to start a conversation), altho sis lie did contact one person, which was totally awesome. I think I just hate shopping without a purpose too much to be good at it..but anywho, we left there and were sitting the bus station for about an hour, and I had one Muslim lady who invited me to her house just so she could have a bule there, and another Christian lady who I think I scared somehow (luckily sis lie contacted her later…ugh), which got me thinking about how I’ve been here for 3 months…and I’m totally sick of people who either hate me because I’m a bule, or are just overly excited to be talking to a bule in Indonesian…where all they want is pictures and to touch my skin (yes, skin DOES feel the same, no matter what color it is, people :P). it’s fine if that happens and I get a good contact out of it every once in a while, but…ugh, I was just really frustrated. So I prayed and asked Heavenly Father to help me to find some good contacts, and find someone who could help bring my spirits up. On the way back to our usual proselyting areas, I had the thought that we were passing by Ibu Agnus’ house, one of the 2 lessons we’ve taught with our contacts, and it’d been over a month since we’d been able to meet with them cuz they’re always busy. So I told Sis Lie we should go there and just drop in. she didn’t like the idea at first, but she finally gave in, and we went…and it was AWESOME. We just followed up with them and shared a scipture, but they had a lot of questions, and the father has been praying about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon, and he’d read almost all of 3rd Nephi… not to mention that I understood FAR more this time than the last time. So we tried to answer all his questions, and even Ibu Agnus was more involved in this lesson than she had been in the last (she was REALLY quiet in the last one, but this time she read scriptures and asked a few of her own questions, so that was really good!). so then I was able to go home feeling FAR better about things. Thank goodness I have a Heavenly Father who hears and listens to my prayers, especially when I need them the most!
Another funny story…while at this mall, I was looking at movies, and I found CHURCHBALL! And then I freaked out. Lol. Who would’ve thought? Churchball in Indonesia? I was gonna buy it for Sis Lie, but it was a bad copy so I didn’t…but I just thought that was a funny, random thing to find here.Today we went to the national museum for pday, and that was fun. Remember that picture that steve found on the internet right after I got my call, mom? I now know that that is a tribe in Papua, and the reason behind their “dressings.” Haha, I told sis about that, and she just laughed.
I met with Chern last week, and I had Bro Hunter come as well, since I wanted to hear about their trip, and plus I think it’s good for him to be there every once in a while. We had a good discussion on our eternal families. But now we’re going to focus on her testimony of Christ. She comes from a Bhuddist background, so I don’t know that she has a true understanding of Christ and His Atonement…and without that…ya, why would you get baptized? So we’re really gonna be working on that the next few weeks, and hopefully that helps with her. Bro Hunter is such an awesome guy…and I know what her getting baptized would mean to him, so I want to help them as much as I possibly can to become the eternal family that they both want! I’m meeting with both Chern and Cherie this weekend, so hopefully those will keep being regular weekly appointments, and I can help both the families become eternal. I feel like that’s a lot of the reason that I’m still here in Jakarta…to work with these two families, and I’m so grateful for that opportunity. Sis lie is always really nervous to talk in them, but she does a good job, and she understands most of what’s going on.
One of the elders told me that our Singapore “trip” has been moved to March…so I should still be here for both the zone trip AND Elder Nelson! Woohoo! I’m so excited! I especially excited for Elder Nelson. I read a talk by him that I’m going to have Chern read about Christ and His Atonement, and…holy cow. Definitely the words of a man called of God. It’s gonna be a great experience to be here when he comes and visits Indonesia, and I’m grateful I get to be here for that.Well…time is running short. But time is also going by fast. I’m almost at 5 months now…almost 1/3 done! Craziness. But I’m grateful for this experience, and especially for family and friends who support me so much. I know your prayers truly are answered when it comes to me…cuz I’m still here, still kicking, still working hard. There’s no way I would be able to do any of this without the support of all of you. So thank you so much…I love you all so much! Have a good week, loves~
~Sister Sara
almost 5 months out...crazy!
Well, another week. I wish I had a lot of good news, but this is week has been a bit of bummer week, and we haven’t been too busy with anybody except Indri. We’ve tried going to her house 3 times in the last week (which is FAR away, so we don’t make any other appointments), and 2 of the times she cancelled…while we were waiting to meet her. So 2 of the days we just went and proselyted, but the 3rd day was just a bit weird… we went with her, but then she didn’t have the keys, so we waited for a friend, but the friend never came…so we basically wasted a whole day there. But, the one good thing is that our contact list has gotten a ton bigger! So hopefully we’ll be able to make some good appointments for next week. That’s my hope! However…we still hafta go to Indri’s house, so we’ll be doing that on Friday. Yup…another day of traveling. Hopefully this time it works out. However, since we haven’t seen her living conditions/situation, she can’t be baptized until after that, so we had to postpone her baptism until next week… again. She asked Elder Millecam to baptize her, tho, and I think he was pretty relieved to hear that he had another week to try to memorize the prayer in Indonesian… haha, he’s pretty worried about messing up on it, but I’m sure he’ll do great!
SOOO…I did get some big news this week. I finally figured out why Sis and I are still here in Jakarta together…pres told me after district meeting last Friday that all four of us that came together will be going to Singapore sometime mid-late February because of some sort of problem with out visas. He said we could be there 5-7 days. Can you believe that? I was REALLY excited at first (I get to go to ANOTHER Asian country to experience things there!), but now I’m just bummed. Just watch…at that point, we’ll have investigators, and I won’t be able to teach Chern or Cherie. AND we could be gone when they’re having the zone trip to Taman Safari! Where, in case you’re wondering why this is so awful, I would get to ride an elephant! It’s like the funnest place! Everyone tells me that I HAVE to go there, and I’ll love getting to hold all the different animals and (tear) ride an elephant! I’m a total baby about this, I know, but I REALLY AWANNA GO! Then, if we hafta go later in the month, we might miss Elder Nelson coming! So…seriously. January has almost NOTHING in it, and neither does March, but February is full of stuff that we’ll prob hafta miss! Sadness… but I’m expecting to get moved after that to one of the other areas. So I’m kinda excited to get ready for that :)
Well…I really don’t have much else to say. We have zone conference tomorrow, so that should be fun. I haven’t taught Chern or Cherie since they got home, but I have an appointment with Chern, and hopefully I’ll have one with Cherie by tonight. We gotta follow up and see how both their trips were, and just keep on teaching. I have a lot of ideas go thru my mind about what to teach them each to help them gain a better testimony of the church, and hopefully that’ll help. I’m so grateful for this opportunity to share the gospel with the people of Indonesia! It’s certainly not easy, but I am grateful for it. For anyone willing to listen, I will tell them of my firm belief and knowledge that Jesus is the Christ, I know God loves me, and this church is Christ’s church…there is no other way that we can return to God than through this Gospel. Everyone will find that out at one time or another, whether in this life or the next. I’m grateful to be a soldier in His army, and pray everyday that I help His work move forward. I love you all so much, and pray for you everyday! Thanks for all the support and love and prayers for me from you…I know that’s what keeps me moving forward (and especially opening my mouth to find people!) everyday day here in Indonesia. Loves!
~Sister Sara
SOOO…I did get some big news this week. I finally figured out why Sis and I are still here in Jakarta together…pres told me after district meeting last Friday that all four of us that came together will be going to Singapore sometime mid-late February because of some sort of problem with out visas. He said we could be there 5-7 days. Can you believe that? I was REALLY excited at first (I get to go to ANOTHER Asian country to experience things there!), but now I’m just bummed. Just watch…at that point, we’ll have investigators, and I won’t be able to teach Chern or Cherie. AND we could be gone when they’re having the zone trip to Taman Safari! Where, in case you’re wondering why this is so awful, I would get to ride an elephant! It’s like the funnest place! Everyone tells me that I HAVE to go there, and I’ll love getting to hold all the different animals and (tear) ride an elephant! I’m a total baby about this, I know, but I REALLY AWANNA GO! Then, if we hafta go later in the month, we might miss Elder Nelson coming! So…seriously. January has almost NOTHING in it, and neither does March, but February is full of stuff that we’ll prob hafta miss! Sadness… but I’m expecting to get moved after that to one of the other areas. So I’m kinda excited to get ready for that :)
Well…I really don’t have much else to say. We have zone conference tomorrow, so that should be fun. I haven’t taught Chern or Cherie since they got home, but I have an appointment with Chern, and hopefully I’ll have one with Cherie by tonight. We gotta follow up and see how both their trips were, and just keep on teaching. I have a lot of ideas go thru my mind about what to teach them each to help them gain a better testimony of the church, and hopefully that’ll help. I’m so grateful for this opportunity to share the gospel with the people of Indonesia! It’s certainly not easy, but I am grateful for it. For anyone willing to listen, I will tell them of my firm belief and knowledge that Jesus is the Christ, I know God loves me, and this church is Christ’s church…there is no other way that we can return to God than through this Gospel. Everyone will find that out at one time or another, whether in this life or the next. I’m grateful to be a soldier in His army, and pray everyday that I help His work move forward. I love you all so much, and pray for you everyday! Thanks for all the support and love and prayers for me from you…I know that’s what keeps me moving forward (and especially opening my mouth to find people!) everyday day here in Indonesia. Loves!
~Sister Sara
:)
Another week has come and gone…man, time is really starting to go by fast. I’m still mad last week’s email didn’t work, but now I’ll be writing my emails in Word before I send, and just pasting and copying…so hopefully there aren’t any more problems with that. This week has been a little bit hard, just cuz I have a head cold now. Saturday it hit me pretty hard, so we came home early, but Sunday we were out ALL day, so I only really had Monday to try to recover…but even that didn’t last long cuz we had an appointment pretty far away, so we had to leave earlier in the day and were gone all night. Yesterday I only got an extra hour to try to get some extra sleep, and then again we were out all day…so it’s good, cuz we’ve been busy, but I might be sick a bit longer than I’d like cuz of it.
Last week was crazy…we had 2 deaths last week (which I wrote about one of them in the other email...ugh). We found out Thursday that a lady from one of the other branches had died, but her daughter and son are in our ward, so everything was done here in Jakarta. It was interesting to see the differences between us and them when it comes to funerals…dad, you’ll be interested in this. They bring the body to the church straight from the hospital, and they have a ton of people come and watch as they prepare the body. I wanted to watch, but we had one of our investigators show up for English class (which was cancelled due to the circumstances), and we thought it was better for us to do some English stuff with them rather than go to the “showing” upstairs, so I missed it. But, here’s another interesting thing…the family stays with the body in the church until the funeral. So the family was at the church nonstop from Thursday until Saturday. The place was an absolute WRECK when we cleaned up after the funeral…it looked like a tornado had gone thru the place. But the funeral was basically the same as a normal mormon funeral, except that at the end they have a line where everyone goes and gives their condolences to the family (they do that at the beginning and end, but the end was the big one rather than a viewing like we have in America). So that was interesting to me.
I’m not the only one who’s been sick…Sis Lie got sick last week after district meeting…like, she was throwing up and had a huge headache, so we stayed in that whole day too. You should’ve seen her face when she woke up and saw all the letters I’d written while she’d been asleep…haha, it was awesome.
Sunday was a crazy day…I was SOOO sick, but Heavenly Father has a funny way of helping us when we think we can’t do something but we do what we know we have to anyways…we’d set up an appointment with Lena, an inactive member who Jackie Larson asked me to go see, and it was FAR, and apparently there’s a bit of drama there, so we HAD to have a member of the relief society presidency go with us, we left after church and were gone all day. But I got 3 contacts…more than I’ve had ever in one night, I’m pretty sure. The appointment went well (hopefully!), but the very last leg coming home, I knew my energy was gone…but it was in perfect timing.
So I’m finding that I have a much easier time contacting men than women… which is really odd. But here’s why…I was telling Sis this the other day… with the guys here, they see me, a Bule, and they’re just excited that I start talking to them, and I can basically force talk about the Gospel and everything that I wanna talk about on them… whereas with girls, they aren’t as open cuz I’m only a bule girl. If I ask for the guys’ numbers, they LOVE it, but the girls get all skeptical and stuff. So… I’ve been getting more contacts lately, but they’re all guys. And we can’t teach guys, so we have to give them to the elders. So it totally stinks, but at least it’s been getting my confidence up. AND….this is wonderful news… I’m FINALLY starting to understand most things that people say on the bus! I’m still not too good in following other people’s conversations (like with members or investigators about things not related to the gospel, their family, or anything that is cute or funny), because my vocab is still so limited, but I have come SOOO far in the last 2 months. Today I was talking to one of the new elders from the MTC, and he’s so frustrated right now…all I could say was, buddy, I know EXACTLY how you feel. But don’t worry…if you endure this, and keep working hard, it WILL get better. I’m not sure if he believed me or not…but it really is true. Hopefully I’m done with my “transition” period, and the language will continue to come!
So the bad news this week is that Indri’s baptism got pushed back another week… so it’s not until January 21 because she didn’t come to church on Sunday, because she worked an all-nighter, and on her way to church she fainted and was taken to a hospital. She came to the church right before we left to see Lena, and she was sad, but she understood why we had to push it back. But she’s still doing great with the lessons, and we’re almost done. Just baptism and confirmation is left, and then I think we’ll start on Lesson 5 with her. Man alive…I love her! We had a lesson yesterday with her, and afterwards she followed us to 2 other appointments with members, and she chimed into the conversation and bore her testimony and everything. She’s also been doing a lot with the other singles in the ward, and she’s really enjoyed having friends that can actually go out and do stuff with her (we’re a little tied up as missionaries…), and they’ve been great influences on her, so that’s been awesome.
Mom, you’ll be proud of this…we had FHE with the first counselor’s family on Monday, and I had inspiration from above to focus the lesson on the 2 little kids in the family. It was AWESOME. Haha, funny, too… we talked to President Parmen about the time and everything, and he said that’d be great, and then we showed up to the house, and his wife had NO IDEA we were coming! Not to mention that President Parmen wouldn’t be home until after we needed to leave to head home, cuz they live quite a ways away. I told sis Lie, he’s a typical man :P haha. Anyways…I had the ideas for the lesson but Sis Lie did an awesome job of carrying it out (she is our mouthpiece most of the time). We read about Ammon and King Lamoni from the kids Book of Mormon, with pics and stuff, and then I bought a coloring book at a Christian store here, and so we copied 2 pics from that for the kids to color while we talked to Sis Parmen and got to know her. As unexpected as it was, I think it went REALLY well. And their little girl is ADORABLE! She is seriously so cute…I need to get her on video. Here’s an example…on Sunday, the Primary sang during sacrament, and she went up (she’s 3 BTW), and she turns around with this huge smile on her face, and her dress is sticking almost completely vertical with the ground…but up instead of down. And she’s just smiling all the while, and after about 20 seconds, someone in the front row went and pulled down her dress for her, but it was ADORABLE. Haha, she makes me laugh.
So today was pday, and we went to the ZOO!!! Holy cow, SOOO much fun! However, sadness mom! We found out that they ride elephants there a few days ago, so I’ve been all excited to do that, but then we get there and they only do it on Sundays and Saturdays! I was so sad! But I took a pic of the “boarding station” area so I could imagine myself getting on an elephant…someday. It WILL happen. But ya, it was tons of fun, and I got some pretty sweet pics and videos that you’ll be getting in the next few weeks, I’m sure.Well my time’s up…which is good, cuz I dunno what else to say. But I love you all so much, and thanks for all the love and support, as always! I hope things are well at home…know that my prayers are with you always~
~Sister Sara
Last week was crazy…we had 2 deaths last week (which I wrote about one of them in the other email...ugh). We found out Thursday that a lady from one of the other branches had died, but her daughter and son are in our ward, so everything was done here in Jakarta. It was interesting to see the differences between us and them when it comes to funerals…dad, you’ll be interested in this. They bring the body to the church straight from the hospital, and they have a ton of people come and watch as they prepare the body. I wanted to watch, but we had one of our investigators show up for English class (which was cancelled due to the circumstances), and we thought it was better for us to do some English stuff with them rather than go to the “showing” upstairs, so I missed it. But, here’s another interesting thing…the family stays with the body in the church until the funeral. So the family was at the church nonstop from Thursday until Saturday. The place was an absolute WRECK when we cleaned up after the funeral…it looked like a tornado had gone thru the place. But the funeral was basically the same as a normal mormon funeral, except that at the end they have a line where everyone goes and gives their condolences to the family (they do that at the beginning and end, but the end was the big one rather than a viewing like we have in America). So that was interesting to me.
I’m not the only one who’s been sick…Sis Lie got sick last week after district meeting…like, she was throwing up and had a huge headache, so we stayed in that whole day too. You should’ve seen her face when she woke up and saw all the letters I’d written while she’d been asleep…haha, it was awesome.
Sunday was a crazy day…I was SOOO sick, but Heavenly Father has a funny way of helping us when we think we can’t do something but we do what we know we have to anyways…we’d set up an appointment with Lena, an inactive member who Jackie Larson asked me to go see, and it was FAR, and apparently there’s a bit of drama there, so we HAD to have a member of the relief society presidency go with us, we left after church and were gone all day. But I got 3 contacts…more than I’ve had ever in one night, I’m pretty sure. The appointment went well (hopefully!), but the very last leg coming home, I knew my energy was gone…but it was in perfect timing.
So I’m finding that I have a much easier time contacting men than women… which is really odd. But here’s why…I was telling Sis this the other day… with the guys here, they see me, a Bule, and they’re just excited that I start talking to them, and I can basically force talk about the Gospel and everything that I wanna talk about on them… whereas with girls, they aren’t as open cuz I’m only a bule girl. If I ask for the guys’ numbers, they LOVE it, but the girls get all skeptical and stuff. So… I’ve been getting more contacts lately, but they’re all guys. And we can’t teach guys, so we have to give them to the elders. So it totally stinks, but at least it’s been getting my confidence up. AND….this is wonderful news… I’m FINALLY starting to understand most things that people say on the bus! I’m still not too good in following other people’s conversations (like with members or investigators about things not related to the gospel, their family, or anything that is cute or funny), because my vocab is still so limited, but I have come SOOO far in the last 2 months. Today I was talking to one of the new elders from the MTC, and he’s so frustrated right now…all I could say was, buddy, I know EXACTLY how you feel. But don’t worry…if you endure this, and keep working hard, it WILL get better. I’m not sure if he believed me or not…but it really is true. Hopefully I’m done with my “transition” period, and the language will continue to come!
So the bad news this week is that Indri’s baptism got pushed back another week… so it’s not until January 21 because she didn’t come to church on Sunday, because she worked an all-nighter, and on her way to church she fainted and was taken to a hospital. She came to the church right before we left to see Lena, and she was sad, but she understood why we had to push it back. But she’s still doing great with the lessons, and we’re almost done. Just baptism and confirmation is left, and then I think we’ll start on Lesson 5 with her. Man alive…I love her! We had a lesson yesterday with her, and afterwards she followed us to 2 other appointments with members, and she chimed into the conversation and bore her testimony and everything. She’s also been doing a lot with the other singles in the ward, and she’s really enjoyed having friends that can actually go out and do stuff with her (we’re a little tied up as missionaries…), and they’ve been great influences on her, so that’s been awesome.
Mom, you’ll be proud of this…we had FHE with the first counselor’s family on Monday, and I had inspiration from above to focus the lesson on the 2 little kids in the family. It was AWESOME. Haha, funny, too… we talked to President Parmen about the time and everything, and he said that’d be great, and then we showed up to the house, and his wife had NO IDEA we were coming! Not to mention that President Parmen wouldn’t be home until after we needed to leave to head home, cuz they live quite a ways away. I told sis Lie, he’s a typical man :P haha. Anyways…I had the ideas for the lesson but Sis Lie did an awesome job of carrying it out (she is our mouthpiece most of the time). We read about Ammon and King Lamoni from the kids Book of Mormon, with pics and stuff, and then I bought a coloring book at a Christian store here, and so we copied 2 pics from that for the kids to color while we talked to Sis Parmen and got to know her. As unexpected as it was, I think it went REALLY well. And their little girl is ADORABLE! She is seriously so cute…I need to get her on video. Here’s an example…on Sunday, the Primary sang during sacrament, and she went up (she’s 3 BTW), and she turns around with this huge smile on her face, and her dress is sticking almost completely vertical with the ground…but up instead of down. And she’s just smiling all the while, and after about 20 seconds, someone in the front row went and pulled down her dress for her, but it was ADORABLE. Haha, she makes me laugh.
So today was pday, and we went to the ZOO!!! Holy cow, SOOO much fun! However, sadness mom! We found out that they ride elephants there a few days ago, so I’ve been all excited to do that, but then we get there and they only do it on Sundays and Saturdays! I was so sad! But I took a pic of the “boarding station” area so I could imagine myself getting on an elephant…someday. It WILL happen. But ya, it was tons of fun, and I got some pretty sweet pics and videos that you’ll be getting in the next few weeks, I’m sure.Well my time’s up…which is good, cuz I dunno what else to say. But I love you all so much, and thanks for all the love and support, as always! I hope things are well at home…know that my prayers are with you always~
~Sister Sara
January 7th
well, i just spent 45 minutes writing a huge email, and it didn't send. so i'm sorry...UGH. no real email this week. that's it...i'm using hotmail from now on. this is ridiculous. big news that i talked about are indri is getting baptized on the 17th, my language is still coming but never as fast as i want it to, and thanks for all the holiday letters everyone has sent. ugh...sorry, i'm really frustrated right now. happy new year.~Sister Hewlett
well, i just spent 45 minutes writing a huge email, and it didn't send. so i'm sorry...UGH. no real email this week. that's it...i'm using hotmail from now on. this is ridiculous. big news that i talked about are indri is getting baptized on the 17th, my language is still coming but never as fast as i want it to, and thanks for all the holiday letters everyone has sent. ugh...sorry, i'm really frustrated right now. happy new year.~Sister Hewlett
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