Minggu yg lebih baik

This week has been a little tougher on the investigator side of things. we're trying to figure out which of our investigators are the most effective/interested, but it's difficult to know. we met with pak johan on saturday, though, and we officially put him in the "simpan" or in other words, wait a few weeks and see what he thinks after he reads the BofM....he hadn't read it at all since the last time we'd met 2 weeks before cuz he's reading a world religions book that he has to return this week. AND he hates religions that think they're the best, and refuses to go to any church....which, ya, isn't exactly the best foundation for us to build on with Joseph Smith restoring God's one and only church to the earth again. but i still think he's cool.
Pak Budi and Ibu Dina read the BofM!!!!! they read Alma 32, and absolutely loved it, and we had a really good conversation about faith, and being humble, and especially grateful for all the blessings that God's given us. Budi prayed, but not every day...so our challenge for him this week is to pray every day, and we're texting him every day to remind him. it's definitely little steps with this family, but i can already see a huge difference since when we first got there. i feel like every time we show up, they all have the weight of the world on their shoulders, but by the time we leave, they seem so much happier and ready to take on the world....it's amazing to see that kind of a change, and know that you really are helping someone. hopefully they feel that as well.
a guy called our cell phone yesterday to see if i'd teach an english class on fridays for about 20-30 people at a university about 30 minutes away...which i'm excited about. i seriously can't teach english, but i'll do my best....but this is gonna be an awesome place to get referrals, that i'm sure of. the english class at the church is really not doing good....last week there wasn't anybody that showed up, and this week there was only one.....so hopefully with this english class, we can get more to come to the other one.
basketball is a little on the awkward side right now....the coach wanted me to actually PLAY for the team, and was going to go through all the holes to get me permission (and who knows how much money that would've cost), and so when i told him that i couldn't play competitively, i could only help coach if it was for real games, he wasn't very happy about it.....so there we go again. i feel like if i give anything, people always just expect more and don't understand WHY i can't give more. so then they're offended or sad, or whatever ya wanna call it, and things just get awkward. hopefully this doesn't last too long tho.
this week as i've been studying the talk that you sent mom, along with other things i've been reading, i've been noticing how much everyone talks about the House of Israel, and decided to answer those questions she asks, but with my patriarchal blessing instead of the entire BofM. amazing the things that are in there. it really does help to see the importance of the House of Israel, even though i know i still don't understand the importance of it as much as i need to. but i figure thats something that's more in depth, and i can study it more when i get home. but, as i was reading my Patriarchal Blessing, i thought about how it really has shaped my life in the last 7 years. it's been so important in helping me know what to do with this big decisions that i'm making at this time in my life. even with things just like exercising....usually, i start exercising again cuz i've read my patriarchal blessing. so...spiritual thought for the week is get your patriarchal blessing, cuz you have no idea how much it's going to help you in your every day life, and especially with those big decisions that come along. i have a firm testimony just from my PB that Heavenly Father knows and loves me, and i know anyone who reads theirs will be able to feel those same feelings. what a blessing it is to have the knowledge that we have about this restored gospel, and what direction that gives to us!
oh, so funny story real quick...last friday i was doing my laundry, and the dryer was acting all funky, so i had sis lie come and help me figure it out...and as she was fixing the thing, i felt something on my foot, and looked down to see a rat running across my feet!!!!! AHHHHH gross! yes, i immediately screamed, freaked out, ran to the kitchen, continued freaking out, and then washed my feet with soap and water to try and clean the dirty rascal's germs off me. all the while, sis lie and jo had no idea what had happened, and kept asking me what happened, but i was too busy freaking out....so when i finally could control myself enough to talk and told them, they laughed for the next 1/2 hr straight....i think cuz it's not in my nature at all to act like that, and they'd never seen me like that, so it really surprised them. haha. i thought it was hilarious tho.
anywho, that's my week in a nutshell....i love you all so much, and pray things are going well! i think it sounds like from all of our emails we're all missing each other quite a bit....which means we all need to refocus a bit, and work even harder so this precious time we have apart will be all the sweeter when we get back together. i love you all so much, and have a good week! loves~

~Sister Sara

Sedang nanggis...‏

this week was ok...last week we met with the preacher Pak Siregar, and had a lovely discussion that started with Joseph Smith, and evolved into how prophets were only before Christ, and after Him there's only apostles, and how the Bible says that John the Baptist is the last prophet....it was quite enjoyable. haha. altho at the time i didn't have an answer for why there are only apostles mentioned after Christ, i now know that there are several instances in Acts especially where prophets are mentioned, and for the first time realized the true meaning of an apostle as a "witness that Christ lives" - ya, g'der there's no apostles before Christ cuz he hadn't been born or resurrected yet. and no...there is no verse in the bible anywhere that says John is the last prophet. and yes, i gave him Mormon 9:7-15 as his homework. we were supposed to meet yesterday, but when we went there, he'd just left for some service thing that had just come up, so we met with his wife instead...poor thing has so many problems right now, and she just spilled a whole bunch of them out to us. BUT, she always hears answers to her problems spoken of thru the Bible from her husband, so she wasn't too excited to hear any of our scriptures, but we tried. i had us all pray kneeling together, so maybe that'll help...we'll see.

sunday was awesome...basically, we showed up to Ibu Dina's house, only to find that she had a reception to go to, and they'd tried calling earlier, but we were at church...so while ibu dina and her 2 granddaughters went to the reception, we stayed and talked to Pak Budi...and sis bajodo was totally key in with the spirit, and read a scripture about prayer, which then opened Budi up to explain why he doesn't pray anymore, and we tried to help him see the blessings that START when we pray, and hopefully we helped him. i gave him Alma 32 as his HW, and when i checked up on him yesterday, he'd already read it (which is HUGE), so next week i'm hoping to hear his thoughts and feelings on faith as well as prayer.

the choir sounded awesome on Sunday! i think pres santoso asked a few members to join, cuz we had a 5 more people there than usual, and they made a HUGE difference...the quality and unity exploded, and the notes are FINALLY starting to be where they're supposed to be. Heavenly Father has answered a whole lot of prayers of mine (and i'm sure others) for that to happen.

monday we met with a referral from Temple Square, and she was pretty cool...she's muslim, and basically just wants to know what sets us apart from other churches, even though she doesn't know too much about other churches...but she said all she knows about Mormons are that she's rarely met a Mormon who wasn't a good person, and that the Osmonds were mormons (she said Marie Osmond's kid committed suicide? kasihan sekali...). she went to english class at the church for 3 years while she was in high school over 30 years ago, and when she visited her friend in bountiful in july, her interest in why we "think we're the best" of all churches came up again...so we'll see if we can meet again, and i was thinking sharing the Plan of Salvation with her. she's single, and not too prone to families...but if the Spirit touches, He'll do miracles.

i don't have much else to say....we have zone conference next week, and i'm BEYOND excited to meet with other missionaries, especially bules. a nice, normal conversation in english would be greatly appreciated really soon. anyways...thanks for all the support and love, i miss and love you all~
~Sister Sara

Satu minggu lagi di firdaus‏

and another week comes and goes :) so Lebaran was great...apparently it's where you go to somebody's house and eat and talk all day. there were other people who brought food over, so i think it's a bit like Christmas, but without the presents. it was fun tho, we went to Sis anas's house, and i found out that 3 people who i thought were all separate families are actually the same family...2 sisters (with a different dad....ya no wonder i didn't know!) and their mom. haha. i felt really retarded after i looked at the photo album, but it was also funny...haha. the food was good, and in bandung especially ive been trying to get a little more used to the spices they use here...and slowly but surely, it's working. i doubt i'll come home a "spicy food lover," but at least i'll be able to eat spices without feeling like my tongue is gonna fall off.

saturday we went to an inactive 10-yr-olds house...whose parents are both non-members. when i heard about san-san, i was surprised to hear someone would let their child get baptized into a church without being a member first, and i'm still really surprised by it,but it's kinda cool. apparently the whole family was learning about the church about 2 years back, and they loved everything the missionaries taught...but they don't "cocok" with the members here (don't fit well...), so when the missionaries asked if San2 wanted to be baptized and he said yes, they were ok with it (the dad told us he still likes to read the BofM, and was happy to get the new improved edition). but after he got baptized, they got sick of the members and it's been a good...year maybe since they've been to church. and they live far, so there's no way san2 can come by himself, so i guess the missionaries go to stay in contact and help san2 remember what he learned with the missionaries before. the parents are really nice, but the dad is batak,and if they like something, they like it, if not....ya, they don't, and that won't change. so we'll see. but interesting story...

sunday we didn't meet with Ibu Dina cuz apparently where she lives is the center point for all the towns around bandung, and one of the members didn't get home until 4 hours after church (usually only 1 hour) because of traffic in that area. so we called and said we'd try for next week. mom, i've been waiting to find someone good to give this testimony from Wes Ridd to, and i'm gonna give it to Ibu Dina this week...and i wanna send a pic, but when they sent the letter they didn't write the return address, so please send me julie's address? thanks! last week we went to help at her warung, and i felt so bad...we got there at noon, but apparently the busy time is in the morning, and so ibu dina had been there by herself all day, and by the time we got there pak budi was coming to switch her...so we washed a few dishes and helped with the one guy that came,but that was it. i just can't wait to meet again this week...she's such a cool lady.

the choir is...coming...along...haha. nah, they're good, but with so few people, and especially inexperienced people, it's a little hard. but we'll keep trying, and hopefully it'll be ready in a month and a half.

sis groberg called this morning (i love the groberg's....they're so awesome, and especially sis groberg is SOOO involved, it's nice to have her if we need anything), and we talked about a few different things going on here in bandung with the work, and i mentioned to her that i wanted to put together a halloween party, and we talked about a few different ideas, and i think i'm gonna go for it. but mom, i need ideas! for food, for games, for everything. i wanna make this something that EVERYONE can come to, and not feel pressured at all with religion. we can invite all our investigators, and the members can invite all their friends to come. just fun and games and food. so now i just gotta get jo excited about it,and we'll be set :) the ideas i have for games are donut eating contest, cake walk, apple dunking, beanbag toss, and a big cardboard picture thing (frankenstein, dracula, etc) where people can put their heads and we can take pictures. we certainly can't do everything, but i'd like to get the best ideas and run with them. it could be really fun!

anywho...that's about my week. we really haven't done a whole lot this week, with rain and stuff, so i just keep plugging along :) thought for this week is... Does God change? ever? no, he's the same. ALWAYS AND FOREVER. and i found the best answer for that question in Mormon 9:7-15. its so true....he is the same, and anyone who preaches differently DOESN'T understand the scriptures. so read the scriptures and figure out for yourself if God changes, or if this truly is the restored gospel brought to this earth again... for the last time, nonetheless. just some food for thought :)

and thats that....thanks for all the support and love and prayers and everything else! i love you all and pray for you. hopefully all is well, and everyone is enjoying the fall time. i am :) it's just like fall here with the rain, and i wear jackets and sweats whenever i'm home :) i love sweats....anywho....loves~

~Sister Sara

Minggu dari neraka....

Well, it's been quite a week! last week, i emailed late, but we had some really good lessons friday and saturday that i told you about last week. Ricky was supposed to meet us at 4, but after telling us about 3 different places to meet him at, we finally met, and then he led us to his "bible school" to meet his professor, who wanted to meet with us and find out about the devil worshipping mormons... haha. so ya, that was fun. but it was actually really cool. there were 2 preachers, and then the room was PACKED with young adults around my age (they had a service activity that they were meeting together for), and the 2 preachers (the professor was one of them) questioned each other the whole time about our beliefs, and discussed what they thought....while sister bajodo and i just sat there, waiting for a chance to tell them EXACTLY what they wanted to know. it really was crazy. THEN, they finally gave us a few minutes to explain the BofM a bit, but then they had 20 more questions, so then we were silent again as they discussed, and THEN the other preacher had the nerve to tell us that if we came to this school to help them better understand the BofM, we should've prepared ourselves better, with good explanations and scriptures ready to show them. haha. jo was just silent, but i wasn't gonna let him talk to us like that....so i said, and i quote, "excuse me, i mean this with all respect, but you haven't given us an opportunity to explain ANYTHING, and anything we've tried to explain, you interrupt in the middle with 5 MORE questions! we can only answer one question at a time, and we're willing to do that, but you need to give us the time to do so." i wanted to say more, but i stopped there, and the guy asked us 5 questions about our religion (do you believe Christ is the Savior of the world, and that there is not other way whereby man can return to God?....questions like that), and after we answered yes to them all, he said, well that's good enough for me. they're just like us, and i don't see how they're devil worshippors if thats what they believe. and after that he stopped listening. however, the professor/preacher guy wanted more questions answered, and things were a lot smoother after....but we still didn't get too far cuz he had a lot of questions....so ya, he still doesn't know about Joseph smith, just the BofM. maybe next week?

the other appointment was good, but the guy is non-denominational cuz he doesn't like all the churches thinking they're the best or the true church (i definitely had a thought of "oh crap" when he said that, cuz that's basically what i'm doing....but in a very respectful, loving way :). but he loved the BofM, had already read up to first nephi (he'd read all the witnesses and intro and joseph smith's vision with moroni), and he was excited to read the rest of it. i'm not quite sure if he's serious about finding out if it's all from God, but he's definitely interested. his wife was really cool, too, so hopefully.... we'll see.

anyways, there really isn't much else to write about...this week is crazy because it's Lebaran tomorrow, so EVERYONE goes home to their native town/city to celebrate with their family, and bandung is CLOSED DOWN. it's difficult to get appointments cuz no one is around, and then from what i hear, starting tomorrow it's also gonna be hard to go anywhere, cuz no one is out and about. tomorrow is lebaran, and apparently it's something where you gather together with your friends/family/neighbors, and then just go from house to house eating food and talking and stuff. i'm still really confused, but i'll have more info next week. all i know is that there's gonna be lots of food, and a lot of it is SWEETS, so i'm happy :) and willing to eat and enjoy myself :) so,

anywho...i hope you all had a good labor day weekend, and also hope you have a good lebaran weekend, even tho it's normal for you :) i love you and hope alls well wherever you are and whatever you're doing! loves~

~Sister Sara

ps my spiritual thought for this week is that selfishness REALLY DOES NOT COME FROM CHRIST!!! so don't be selfish. serve those you hate, and you'll learn to love them, and they'll learn to love you. even tho it's not easy. amen.

pps crap i almost forgot!!! so funny story for the week...today we were int he angkot, and we passed a guy who had his bare butt showing...sis jo said he was prob crazy, but i avoided seeing anything after we passed him. haha. i love indo :)

ppss oh and dad, guess what!?!?! there's a lady here from finland who came to church on sunday! her son lives here, and she's here visiting him, but she just joined the church 1 1/2 years ago, so she's the only one from her family,but we wanna meet with the family she's staying with cuz the daughter in law is indo and muslim, but says she's always had a thing for christianity...she just can't join cuzo f her family. but if they move backto finland, i think she'd be ok. so we'll see. her name is Iria Alma Sivia Tammilahti, and her son's name is juhani komulainen....i have a feeling you can say those names a lot better than me. i tried translating for her in church, but her english isn't very church based, and she can talk a lot more than she can understand...so it wasn't very easy. but she's cool. nina rakastan sinua! is that true? haha hopefully...it's supposed to be i love you ...if you have anything you want me to tell or ask her, she's here for 3 more sundays. loves!

Minggu yg baik :)

sorry this is late...i'm ok, we just ran outta time wednesday and thursday, so this is the first opportunity i've had to get on a computer. well, it's been a good week, and i've done a lot of reflecting and praying, and it seems like Heavenly Father is setting me in the direction i need to go. i LOVE being a missionary!

we met with ibu dina and her family, and they're good but didn't read from the BofM, which we were totally bummed about, but sis bajodo had good scriptures from the bible and bofm that we read and then encouraged them again to read. before we said the closing prayer, however, ibu dina informed us that they're short on money for their house contract, and they need money by this sunday...so we agreed to pray for them, and will fast for them on saturday. my biggest fear with problems like this that arise is them hoping that i'll give them the money they need.....and it breaks my heart to not be able to! but i also have a strong testimony that by giving money to people, i'm really NOT helping them, so i've never done it...but this is the first time i've been truly tempted to. they are such a humble but happy family....i already told jo if they ask, she has to take over, because i dunno that i'll be able to say no. i called pak budi this morning to see how the search for money was going, but he said they were still searching....so we'll see what happens. i REALLY am praying they get the money before sunday when we go there tho...i don't want to offend them or think i don't care...i just can't.

anywho...onto brighter things. so we haven't had an appointment since sunday cuz all the appointments have fallen thru...BUT, we got some good contacts, and i'm SUPER excited about those. we also got rejected by a lady who "already has a church and is perfectly happy with it," whose daughter we met last week...who followed us for about 1 mile before we knew she was behind us. anywho, after her mom rejected us (pretty publicly, actually....), she came and walked out with us, and kept apologizing for her mom judging us (so this girl is like 10 or 11, and i guess someone told her our church was devil worshippers or something...), and she kept going on and on, hoping we weren't offended....i felt so bad for her. but she also kept saying "i know you're good, i know you're not like that, cuz i've met you and i know!" coming from a 10 yr old, i thought that was pretty cool. hopefully when she's a little older, she'll be able to meet with missionaries and know what our church REALLY believes.

so 2 experiences that have been cool while contacting was on sunday night coming home from ibu dina's, a couple got in the angkot and we started talking to them. when we found out they were a theology university, i instantly had a feeling that we HAD to explain the BofM....so i went for it, and they were SO interested! we're actually going to meet with them today, so i'm excited to see how things go. hopefully we're clear enough. i'm always afraid i give too much information when i teach....the simpler the better. but they're really cool. we'll see what happens.

the other contact happened yesterday...we were on the angkot going to bball practice, and i wanted to talk to the guy on my right...but i literally couldn't. no matter what i tried to do to get the words out, nothing would come. i had a few thoughts about other people in the angkot, and how i should know WHO to talk to....but i kept trying to get words outta my mouth with this one guy, but i just couldn't do it. finally, i looked at the book the guy on my left was reading, and i thought i saw the word "prayer." so then i started trying to look even closer, and sure enough it was a christian book....so then i started up a conversation with him (ya, words were FINALLY able to come out), and found out that this guy is non-dominational, but he LOVES to read christian books. when i asked him if he'd ever read the BofM, he said he'd read about mormons in a book, and that he'd actually stayed in a hotel somewhere where they'd had a BofM, so he asked if he could have one, but then never received it. so i pulled out my extra copy, and we explained a little bit, and i'm hoping we can meet this week before he heads to jakarta for lebaran (oh, so btw, it's ramadhan right now, which is the muslim month of fasting, so during the day it's SOOO hard to find food, and it's rude to eat out in public, so we hafta basically hide everytime we wanna eat....crazy, but still totally cool to experience for myself. but once 6 pm hits, the streets are CRAZY filled with HUNGRY people) next week. he was a really sweet guy, and i'm SOOO grateful for the holy ghost stopping me from talking to someone who prob wouldn't have gone anywhere, and leading me to Johan.

and that's what i've really been appreciating this week....the way the holy ghost works thru me. i feel like after a year on the mission, i should know how to follow the Holy ghost better...but i still feel inadequate, and have a hard time disifering (i know that's spelled wrong, but i dunno the right way...) between if what i'm feeling in a lesson is from the holy ghost or myself. so i'm trying to get better and knowing, and those 2 contacts REALLY helped me feel like i AM following the spirit...i just need to be more aware of when he's talking to me, and have the courage to follow those promptings.

things are good. i LOVE sis bajodo. she's nice to have around, cuz she's funny, easygoing, and willing to do whatever we have to for this work. i feel really lucky to have her for a comp. she's also a good partner when my mind goes blank, she's already got a scripture or testimony to explain what needs to be explained. i'm really enjoying bandung, and i think that's mostly because of her.

OOOOH so we're starting practice for the choir for district conference in october, and guess what ? i'm playing the piano, leading the music, and basically organizing the whole thing. holy cow....i've never done even ONE of those things, much less all at once! but the problem is that no one else is willing to help out....they just look at me and expect me to lead....so i do. we have me playing on the electric piano, so i can be in front of them all while they sing, and can hear who needs work. then i'll go to the piano with that group, we'll practice, and then go back to the group. it's exhausting, but i'm grateful for all the times i've been involved in choir so this isn't TOOO new for me to help out with. we're doing count your blessings in indo, and teach me to walk in the light of his love in english. haha. yes, the english was my idea, and the branch pres LOVED it. so that's what we're doing, and i'm excited to see how things go! it's a REALLY small choir (10-15 people), but that'll hopefully only make it better :)

ok, well my time is running low...thanks os much for all your prayers and support! seriously...i'm the luckiest missionary in the world (except maybe carter ties with me :P) to have the kind of support i do. i pray things are going well at home...know i love you! loves~

~Sister Sara