well, this week is a bit of a blur...but i'll see what i can remember from it. i have a new planner this week, so i'll be going from memory, which means i'll for sure be missing stuff but i'm sure you get sick of reading about every little detail anyways, so oh well. which...by the way, since i just finished another planner, that means that i've already been in indo for 24 weeks (that was the 4th planner that i've finished), which is utterly crazy to me...especially that it's all been in Jakarta. i was looking at my pics the other day looking for something, and i felt like everything that's happened was just yesterday...and yet a lot of it happened months ago. crazy...
anywho...onto the important stuff! so last week met with chern, and had a REALLY great lesson on testimonies. she started to understand more what the word meant, and what it means for her to have one. i told her the biggest sign of a testimony is when we change our lives, and she has changed her life completely towards the church, which means that she REALLY DOES have a testimony, she just hasn't recognized it yet. i also gave her the challenge to testify in little simply ways to her family...something really simple, like when she's playing with her son to say, "torin, i know (or believe...whichever she's more comfortable with) that you are a spiritual son of your heavenly father." she thought that was a little weird, but i told her it was that or she could get up in front of the whole branch in a few weeks, and so she chose the "inhouse" challenge. haha.
saturday was the fireside, and it was disappointing, spiritual, and amazing. it was disappointing cuz chern and bro hunter were the only ones who showed up besides pres donald, sister western (guess what mom? she's the relief society pres! lol, i told her i can't believe i've been here this long, and never knew that!), pres and sister marchant, and then we had the elders from the office come just to add to the numbers. it was spiritual when we started with the movie about john tanner. by the end, chern was crying (along with others, but i was the most excited about chern), and then pres donald spoke about his conversion, which was awesome, and pres said a few words as well, and chern cried quite a few times. then we sang the closing song, i prayed, and suddenly one of the office elders jumps up and asks if he can say something before we all left...which he then proceeded to bear his testimony about how important his mom's decision to join the church was in his life (she was apparently in the same boat as chern...married to a member), and chern cried some more. so ya...i was totally stoked after that and couldn't wait til we met on friday, but on sunday at church pres donald advised me to meet with chern asap...so i set up the appointment for monday, and all my hopes were a bit shattered as we talked about her feelings 2 days before. haha. chern is so funny...she said the stories were very touching, but she didn't feel the spirit. so i dunno...but she REALLY IS searching for an answer as far as a baptism date goes, and this weekend we're going to fast with her for 24 hours (which is a first for her...she's never done the full 24 hours). we also went over all the baptism questions, and she could answer yes to all of them. so the only thing missing is the date, and thats what she's the most uncertain about. a lot of people are telling me to just keep pushing her, but...well, i don't really feel like it's my place. she knows everything, and what she doesn't know a lot about, we're working on. she's just gotta find her date.
the other exciting thing this week was raz! she came to church, the english branch, and really enjoyed it...and then stayed for the last 2 hours of the indo branch as well! i was sad she couldn't stay for the baptism after church (one of the kids of a member), but i was also really happy with all the discussions and all her questions. most of the day was focused on the priesthood, so i thought that was a perfect thing for her to really start getting interested in.
we just met with raz last night, too, and it was another really good lesson. now she's asking if the BofM has passages like the Bible that are just inspiring, so we found a few that she wanted comparisons in, such as (i think?) 1 corinthians 13 about faith, hope, and love...to which, i gave her moroni 7 about faith hope and charity (the pure LOVE of christ :). and ya...just stuff like that. then she had a few other questions, and then we talked about the gospel of Jesus Christ, which was AWESOME. she had a few questions about that, and it really was just a great discussion. she's coming to church again this week, so we'll just keep working with her! as far as looking at baptism with her is going, she still needs to gain a testimony of Joseph Smith before she'll be really ready, so that's where we're going to start focusing. i'm also having a difficult time figuring out who we can get to help fellowship her in the english branch, cuz there's nobody that age here in that branch. but i'll keep searching for that answer...
i am getting more and more disappointed in our other investigators tho. we finally got another appt with cherie this weekend, so that's good, but we've been getting a lot of appointments that cancel lately :( but...that's missionary work, especially here in jakarta, so we'll just keep working hard.
friday was zone conference, and it was SOOOOOO good! pres finally realized that nobody has any idea what to say to muslims, and so he had a huge lesson on the religion, so that we could have a better background on their beliefs, and he even had compare/contrasts with our church, which has REALLY helped stimulate my conversations with Muslims. if i can ask them more intelligent questions rather than just "so what do you believe?" i've found that things go a lot smoother. it was a REALLY good zone conference, and yes...the food was amazing :)
so sis lie is still here, along with all the other sisters, so we'll see when they start moving people. part of me wants to move just to see what the rest of indonesia is like, but the other part of me is so in love with jakarta and also worried about what'll happen with our investigators now, that i don't wanna go! but...well, whatever happens happens, and i know that i'll be wherever God needs me. i have such a strong testimony that God knows each of His children, and He is there, willing to help us, if we will take the time to ask. He will never direct any of His children to a path that is not directed towards Him...which means we REALLY need to be in tune to that path! i feel like every person i talk to, i was meant to talk to, and i'm just sad when they don't understand what's different about me (well...besides that i'm a bule...). but..i'll keep talking, keep testifying, and keep searching for those who ARE ready. i'm so grateful for my calling here, and i know that i'm here because i needed indonesia :) a testimony is truly a blessing to have.
Loves~
~Sister Sara
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