seminggu lagi di firdaus‏

KeluargaKu~

well, it's been another week here in indo. first off, i just got all the letters talking about Zak's grandma dying a few weeks ago...sorry zak, i just found out, but condolences to you and your family. however, we all know where she is, and that she's been waiting to be reunited with your grandpa for a while, and that is a blessing that only this gospel can bring to us.

we just got done watching "Charly" at the church, and wow....yes, i knew i loved that movie before, but it's put a whole new perspective on things, because that's really what missionaries are all about...spreading that we CAN have the "happily ever after" within the gospel - that when we live worthy of the promises that God makes with us, our families can be together for eternity...with NO doubts about what happens after this life. i love the Plan of Happiness, and all the promises it gives! yesterday we were waiting for an appointment, and one of the elder's investigators was there early, and so we got talking to her, and i asked what they were learning about right now, and she said the temple, and becoming an eternal family (this lady is married with 3 kids, and they're all learning about the church, and want to get baptized, but they're having problems with her mom, who lives with them...so it's been really hard, especially for the mom), and i felt a little inspired to testify to her about what that promise means to me with my family and my future. hopefully it helps her to keep moving forward to work to overcome her challenges right now with her family.

so we met with Chern last week, and she's SOOOO awesome! i was asking her if she feels different now that she has the holy ghost, and she went off about how different she feels when she prays, and that she just LOVES to pray now, cuz she gets "this calm, peaceful feeling that wasn't there before." haha. she also got me some "magic" spray for my mosquito bites to help with the itching. haha, she's awesome. they're in china this week, so we won't meet again til next week, but bro hunter seems VERY happy as well :)

we've met with raz a few times this last week...now that chern's baptized, we're moving our focus to raz, and wanna meet at least twice a week. she's been expressing a need for friends in the church to help strengthen her, and so we've been searching for that...she also informed us that she's really worried about family problems if she gets baptized. her parents live in australia, so it's REALLY hard to try and work with them to help her, but we're working on what we can do to continue to help her. she told us yesterday that she REALLY wants to get baptized, she knows it's the right thing to do, but right now just isn't the time. so for now we're just gonna help her find friends in both the english and indo branch to help strengthen her testimony, and maybe just prepare her for when she leaves for australia in june. she may be moving to australia next year, and she thinks if that happens and she becomes independent from her parents, she'll be more able to do what SHE feels is right. so we'll see what we can do to help her. i just don't want her to fall away...

we have 2 appointments that i'm excited about...one today and one tomorrow, that are contacts of mine. i'm hoping with the one today, we can transition into the plan of salvation. the lady is a single mom with 2 kids (she was married to an englishman, so she's fluent in english, and can't even talk much in indo...i keep telling sis siman, i dunno why the only people i feel like i have any success with are english speakers [chern, raz, cherie, bertha], but whatevs...), and she's looking for happiness in her life right now...she had other questions last time tho that we focused more on, but today i REALLY wanna focus on helping her find out HOW she can find that happiness. so we'll see.

the other appointment is with a guy who thought i was a jehovah's witness. ugh. i always get SOOO offended when people ask that, which i shouldn't, but i do. he really wants to hear what we have to say, so i'm hopeful! we need more progressing investigators...

the other people we're meeting with lately all seem to be people with part of the truth, but they don't want to pray about the truth that we're sharing with them. they're open to hearing it, but they think that what they think is good enough. which is great, but when you have this even GREATER truth out there, wouldn't you just wanna grab ahold and never let go of that? i dunno...i get headaches about halfway thru the lessons, cuz they talk so much about what they believe, which has some truth, but no REAL base, so it's hard. ya...it is REALLY hard. i have this message that i want everyone else to feel, but sometimes i feel like there aren't enough people that care to know about it. it's sad, really. but it also helps strengthen my testimony of what i know is true. haha, then there's raz...who i wanna share EVERYTHING with, but i can't cuz she's gotta learn little by little. lol, so there are the two sides of things. i love indonesia...i love these people, and i want to help them know Christ as He really is! i want them to know that happiness that i know, i want them to feel His love surround them, and help them know that everything is going to be alright! i want them to know they're God IS there, and that He loves them, and that if they are willing to live His commandments and gospel, they WILL return to live with Him again. I love this gospel, i love this chance that i have to share with the people of indonesia, and i love my God for steering my life the way He has. i don't know why i'm so blessed, but i do know that it is my obligation to share what i know and love with others...so here i am :)

this week has been a pretty good one, and i'm so happy to be here, serving my God and Savior, and acting as they would if they were here. i know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, and that he restored the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the earth again...in its FULNESS! i love you all, and as always, thanks for the support and prayers...you're the best! loves,

~Sister Sara

Pembaptisan Chern!‏

well, i'm sure everyone already knows the biggest news for this last week is that CHERN GOT BAPTIZED!!!! it was seriously the coolest baptism i've ever been involved in...well, technically it's really the only one that i've played any part in, but it was so incredibly full of the Spirit, and she was SOOO excited, and Brother Hunter was possibly the happiest i've ever seen him (altho he TRIED to hold it in...he did a good job of it, too, but there was a different light coming out of his eyes :). pres donald decided to have the baptism during Relief Society/Priesthood so that everyone could be there (things get too crazy after with the Indo branch), and so the auxilary room was PACKED with everyone, and it was very well put together. Brother hunter baptized Chern, and then President Donald confirmed her. PJ & Cherie were there, and it think it was a lot more meaningful for them, since it's more the same situation...but we still didn't get an appointment for this week...ugh. but yes...the most exciting thing i heard, was from sis millecam, who stayed after cuz she wanted a pic of the family, and she said as chern put her arm around bro hunter for the pic, she looked at him and said, "Finally..." how cool is that?!?!?!?! man alive...i'm so happy for that little family! tomorrow will be our first meeting with Chern as a member, so i'm excited :)

so last week i had one of our investigators wanna meet with her two friends from Nigeria...which i was a little weirded out by, but it actually ended up being a super sweet lesson. it was before the english class, and we had the elders join us, cuz i was worried about creepy nigerian men that only wanted to meet with the bule (i think this is proof that i've been in indonesia for too long, and have had far too many experiences with the creepy indo men), but they actually ended up being totally awesome, and i was hopin they'd be at church on sunday, but they had something come up...so we'll see. but they answered all the questions with the perfect answers...like from the bible. it was awesome. and they loved the BofM and Joseph Smith. i REALLY hope things work out there.

friday was a crazy traffic night, cuz of hard rain, so we didn't make it to our last appointment...we spent 4-5 hours in the jakarta transportation, between busway and the micro minis. it was normal to me, but sis siman was freaking out, she couldn't believe how long we had to wait, and how crazy the lines and everything were. haha. made me laugh. apparently jakarta has changed a ton in the last 2 years since she moved away.

OH i almost forgot this story! holy cow...i was seriously SOOO ticked. this last weekend was the "YSA huge activity" where all the YSA from all over indo (even from Manado and Medan) get together for their big activity so that people can hook up and get married, while also having fun! haha. so saturday night we knew that we'd have the girls from Manado staying with us after they got back from the activity...but what we didn't know was that they'd be getting there at 1 in the morning! so sis mongan was with them (she's now Lani, tho, so i will address her as such from now on :P), and there were 3 other girls, and they stayed up til 3 am talking in our kitchen! so i was ticked about that, cuz i am NOT a person who can't get their sleep and still be fine. THEN, when i went to the bathroom the next morning, the bathroom wouldn't flush, and i couldn't figure out what was wrong until i went out to the sink in the kitchen, and there was no faucet...one of the girls broke the faucet! so they had to turn off the water so it wouldn't spray everywhere, and we had 8 girls that had to get ready for church without the easy access of water. it was ridiculous. however, the good news is that we survived, and the faucet has been fixed, and i'm basically back to my sleep schedule again.

there isn't a ton else to talk about. sis siman has been totally awesome, tracting thru the neighborhoods to try and find people (i like that a lot more than shopping to "try and find people" cuz that never works cuz who actually focuses on finding people when you're shopping? ya...i'm not too good at that). so ya, i've really liked that, and i'm enjoying learning from her. we have quite a few differences, but we both know that they other is just trying to help, and so it's been really good to learn from her (i basically mean that she actually tells me things that i could improve on, which i haven't experienced basically at all since i got to indo, so i hafta to humble myself to hear what she says and try to impliment that, cuz generally she's right). oh, i also got another haircut! however, unlike the last one, this one is FAR more drastic, and it was FREE! one of our investigators cuts hair, and so we went to her shop cuz her phone was being retarded, and since i've been talking about cutting my hair for a few weeks now, the lady did it for me, and then wouldn't let me pay. it's pretty cute, but it's gonna take a bit of getting used to for me. i mostly just think it'd look better with bangs, but i'm nervous about that cuz it's taken me so long to grow out my old ones. we'll see. not that any of you cared about any of these thoughts, i know...sorry, i'm thinking as i type.

so what have a learned this week? SOOO many things! one is humility, and having open ears and an open heart to hear others. another is to listen to our investigators and teach to THEIR needs. i thought that was a really good lesson... another is that God truly does know and love each of His children, and so He sets us in the path that we need to be in as long as we do the best we can to follow His commandments...i know me and Chern were placed here in Jakarta because God knew we needed each other. Chern needed something (i'm still not quite sure what...) that possibly only i could give her, and God gave me Chern because He knew if I didn't have her during those first few stressful months of NOTHING here, i really might've very well gone crazy. He's there and He loves each of us! i KNOW without a shadow of a doubt that that is true, and that is my testimony for this week :) i love you all and i hope you have a great week! loves!

~Sister Sara

Selamat Hari Ibu, dan Selamat Ulang Pernikahan!

well it was sure good to hear everybody's voices on Sunday, although i was sad i didn't get to say goodbye. the call just kinda ended, and that was that. luckily, i was too tired to care too much, but the next morning, when i had my energy back, i was SUPER sad i didn't get to tell you all how much i love you! so i love you, and happy mothers day again, mom!

well my family already knows, but i'll say it again...CHERN IS GETTING BAPTIZED! we've had a bit of fun playing around with WHEN they'll be having the baptism (it seems like there are conflicts with every time they decide on), but i think the final say has been during Sunday school on Sunday. if they wait til after church, the Indo branch is meeting, and if they do it any other day, President Donald is afraid there won't be many people that can make it. so sunday it is, and i'll of course have pics to send home! Pres Donald interviewed chern on sunday, and when i talked to him yesterday, he told me how ready she is...and i told him i already knew :) i really have no idea what happened between 2 weeks ago and last week...but Chern is ready for baptism, and SHE knows it now, which is the most important thing. and now her family will start their journey towards becoming an eternal family!

speaking of baptism, yesterday we met with raz and discussed baptism with her...she still feels like she needs to pray and figure things out for herself, but she said she feels SO RIGHT with our church...she says she knows there's something different about it, and that if she chooses this path, she's going to do it herself, and she's going to hafta stand up for a lot things...so she's going to search within herself to see if she thinks she can do that before she leaves for australia at the end of june. HOPEFULLY SHE FINDS OUT! i've been trying to figure out someone to fellowship with her, but its REALLY hard with her age, so we'll see what else we can do. keep praying for raz tho!

other exciting news for the week...sis mongan has been released. HOLY CRAP. i remember the day we got together, and she was telling me that she had 5 months left on her mission...and now it's been 6 months, and she's really gone! i'm gonna miss her SOOOO much. i know this entire mission is gonna miss having such an incredible missionary who connected with everyone SO well. i just hope i can follow her example...her biggest advice is to always love your companion. so i'll see what i can do about that :) hopefully i can follow it.

we've been SUPER busy this entire last week. i like to keep busy, but it's been a little hard with sis simanjuntak. she's been "homesick" the last few days, so our last few appointments have basically been me teaching everything, while she'll just add in where i look at her and wait for a response. she's a really good missionary, so i'm just hoping that she can get over this homesickness quick so she can continue to teach like she did last week.

so we met with a referral last week, and HOLY COW! she's christian, but she was with her buddhist friend who had her muslim maid (pembantu...i think maid is the best way to describe that word...), and she insisted that they join in the lesson...so we just wanted to get to know the lady and see what she'd learned from the elders who'd reffered her, and she just started going off about Jesus, and how everyone needs Jesus, and that this poor Muslim girl was basically "sesat" for her beliefs (like, lost...), and if she never found Jesus, she'd never be saved, and on and on and on...finally the buddhist friend had to "go to bathroom" and they didn't come back in...which i understood why. at one point, when the lady got REALLY offensiver, i broke in and talked about how in our church, we know the right way to return to God, but that we still need to respect other religions...and then this lady just nodded, and started ripping on the girl again. it was seriously so sad. but we'll be meeting with the lady again on friday, in her house, hopefully without any Muslims in the room. maybe we'll actually be able to teach...i can only hope!

saturday we had a reception for Jesse & Sema...jesse an american in the english branch, has been living here for 10 years, and just married sema, who is muslim and indo, and we've met once or twice with them in VERY informal settings, just to help sema start to gain an interest in the church. i know jesse has a hard time dealing with her not being a member, but i think he also knows if she does get interested, its gonna take a few years. so we'll keep meeting and see what we can do.

and on and on and on. the rest of the appointments weren't too much to talk about...we were at one investigators house, when it started to POUR outside, and sis siman had taken her shoes off in the front, and after we said the opening prayer, the lady JUMPS up, runs to the door, and starts yelling about shoes, and we're both like, oh ya, don't worry about the shoes, they're waterproof...and then we went out, and the shoes were gone cuz there was a huge flood of water coming down the sidewalk area! it was hilarious, and siman had to walk quite a ways before she found them...i stayed in the house laughing my head off. haha it was funny.

so i just read elder eyring's talk from the priesthood session, and i found that if you replace "priesthood" with "missionary," it applies a lot more to me as a missionary! elders can try that as well, and it might be able to help them focus more on their work as a missionary, but i think with sister missionaries that talk is INCREDIBLE if you switch those 2 words. it brings the entire talk right into your heart...everything that you need to do, and the things you need to remember, as you're serving God. i loved it. so maybe for FHE this week you can try that :)

again, it was fun talking...hopefully my indo sounded a tiny bit better. if not, i can at least UNDERSTAND this language better. that's an improvement. the other day i got a text from one of the new APs, and i had no idea what he said, and sis siman said it was SUPER formal indo...i wanna get that good! oh well...keep working at it, right? anywho, i love you all, i pray all is well at home, and always know that i love you so much! i know this work is God's work, and that if i serve Him with my all, He will help me to succeed...which i know is true, because He already has! loves~

~Sister Sara

ps i got zack's announcement this last week...very cute! i'm happy for ya cuz! send me pics!
p.p.s i almost forgot...HAPPY ANNIVERSARY ON SUNDAY!!! mom and dad! hope its a good one :) i'd say you've had quite a successful marriage :) love you!

Rekan baru!

ok, this is gonna be quick...we just got finished teaching Raz, and it's already late, and we're using the computer at the office. so here goes...
thursday sis lie transferred to bandung, and i was with sis mongan and sis okamoto came with me to teach Chern...and she picked a baptism date (may 10)! the problem is, Chern is still unsure about the date, and when i called her yesterday to ask about how she was feeling about it, she didn't sound very confident, so we'll find out tomorrow if it actually happens or not. she's just gotta take the step!
friday, sis simanjuntak got here, and she's awesome. she's also gorgeous....i would say the cutest indo sister missionary. she's batak, tho, so it makes sense. anywho...she's been on her mission for over a year, and altho she has a few minor faults, i've already learned a ton from her...she's a really powerful teacher, and she's already helped me TONS with my language. our personalities are also a lot more compatable, which is great for us, but also hard when we focus on what we're talking about instead of on contacting people...but that'll get better, i'm sure. she's awesome, and i'm really liking our companionship...it's still early, but i REALLY like being with someone who has more experience than me, and will help me know how i can become better.
saturday we met with celine...after walking 3-4 miles, thru a demonstration in the middle of the city. ya...it was great, and i sweating like a warthog, but we got there! and she was even later than us, so it all worked out. after we watched the restoration, she had some questions about us having false doctrine...ya, that happens a lot here. but she was still really open to things, and we told her the Book of Mormon is her proof. so hopefully she'll keep reading and trying to find out the truth for herself.
we also met with Ibu Yuni...she's a freak. and i mean that in the kindest way possible. but seriously...she quotes the bible like no one i've ever met...and she was born Muslim, and has only recently started to read from the Bible. she's basically a "truth-seeker" altho she calls herself a "believer in the faith of Abraham." we taught the first 4 principles in the first lesson, and then she went off... for an hour. there is not a second to even interupt, which is hard, but whatevs. she's cool, and we met again last night, with her neighbor who is an RM and really awesome, and that helped A TON. sis Sim doesn't really like her, but we'll see what happens.
sunday, Ibu Yana became Sister Yana! she's sis and sis mongan's investigator, and she's awesome. i'll tell ya more when i get home, cuz i don't have time right now...but her family will be greatly blessed with this gospel.
monday, everything got cancelled on us, so we went to see some of Sis sim's Christian friends...she lived here for 4 years before she moved back to medan, and so she has a lot of people she wants to try to help as a missionary. i think one of them was pretty promising to at least listen to our message.
well...raz tonight was a good meeting. she really is progressing at a rapid pace, and this gospel starts making more and more sense to her as she keeps learning and coming to church...which is the blessing she gets for her righteousness! so we'll keep teaching and see how things go!
so seriously...i don't have time, sorry, but i know this gospel is true, that we're blessed to have prophets who wrote the word of God for us today thru scriptures, and even more blessed to have prophets on the earth today...i know God and Jesus live, that this gospel was restored thru joseph smith, and that thru faith in this gospel, ANY problem can be overcome. i love you all! loves,

~Sister Sara