well...i can hardly breathe right now...i forced jo to come email as soon as we got home so you wouldn't worry going 2 days without an email again...but we're cuttin it short emailing this close to curfew :P but know i love you mom, and this was for you :)
it's been a heck of a week...last thursday was AWESOME and exhausting, and i had a headache at the end of the day. we taught pak johan, whom we haven't taught in about 2 months cuz i don't really see him progressing, he just likes to compare different religions, but i wanted to see how much of the BofM he'd read...and it turns out that he hasn't read any. ugh. but he actually asked us about what our church believes about death, so we bagged what we'd planned to teach, and had a good discussion about the plan of salvation. he was good, talking about how almost every church has the belief of the middle part of what we believe, but the rest is totally just our church - which made it possible for me to bear testimony to him that we only know about the pre mortal life and life after judgment day because of living prophets who live on the earth today. it was probably our best discussion yet.
and then we went straight to bang hapen - who SERIOUSLY gives me a headache every time we teach him....he just has so many questions, and doesn't understand anything that we try to discuss....he's intelligent, and knows his Bible, but he wants too much PROOF from the Bible, and there just isn't any about the BofM....so it's frustrating and just almost too much work to try and discuss things with him. i always just get to a point where i just shut up and stop talking, cuz nothing i say he seems to understand. but it was still good to meet with him, cuz it's been about 2 months since we met with him as well.
i also took team pics with my widyatama girls! and guess what....they gave me my very own, widyatama jersey! we all dressed up in the uniforms, and after i gave them back the jersey i'd borrowed, and they were like, no, this is for you! i'm still touched by them...seriously, they are so cool, and mom and dad we're gonna go out to dinner so you can meet them all!
and then saturday was THE WEDDING....the wedding that millions have waited for for 10 years. haha, mbak ade and mas budi FINALLY tied the knot on saturday, and guess who were the bridesmaids that got to dress up with the bride/? haha, yup, us missionaries. holy cow...it was so fun! i got to dress up in kebaya (the "special event" clothing), and everyone was freaking out about a bule wearing kebaya. and i'm not gonna lie---the other girls had their ridiculous, white make up on that makes them look completely unnatural and not at all as pretty as their natural color is---but i asked to have the "natural" look, and i was quite pleased with the result. you'll be getting the pics around this time next week....i left a package at senopati today that a lady from the english ward is gonna send thru the embassy (which puts it at the same price as sending you a package from cali...sweet, eh?), and it has 2 cds of pics, with the wedding pics on it. you can use that at the ward party, too, if you want :). anyways, mbak ade was beautiful, and after he washed off his white makeup, mas budi didn't look half bad, either, haha. funny story...write that one down for when i get home. he deleted the pic i took, so i don't have proof, but i promise it happened.
sunday was awesome too...we fasted with Ibu Dina, and she was SO proud that she fasted, cuz it's been 6 years since she's done it, but she "felt so strong, and God helped me not feel too hungry all day!" she's seriously such a sweetheart. i love her so much. after we ended our fast together with dinner, we talked a bit about how she felt about the Bofm, and she said she's been reading it, and she knows it has the purpose as bible - so i explained that that's the Holy Ghost, helping her know that, and that sometimes he works in a process, and if she keeps reading, she'll become more and more sure of the divinity of the Bofm, and that along with that will come a knowledge of joseph smith, who she still struggles with. but little by little we're getting along with her! we also talked a lot abotu her family, and what she can do to help them open up more to Christ (that's what she wanted to fast for). she's amazing,a nd i love her so much!
tuesday-thursday was spent in jakarta - and man was it full and awesome and just good to get out of bandung for a few days (which dad, it's BAWN - DUNG, not BANG-DUNG. i dunno why that couple told you that was how you say it, cuz it's definitely said the way it's said). tuesday was great - i went on splits with one of the sisters in jakarta, and we taught raz! she's doing SO good, and it was so great to hear about her trip to australia, and how much she's grown. she said the closing prayer, and i told her i could see an improvement in her prayers even in just 4 months....not that they were "bad" before, just more "flowy" if you will. she was more sure of herself, and it was really cool to see that. she's planning on getting baptized in january in australia, so i'm gonna stay in touch with her, and make sure that happens :)
it was also nice to see in jakarta a lot of what's happening there - the missionaries are using the english branch TONS more now, and almost all their investigators are referrals or girlfriends/boyfriends of members. sis suryono, who is from bandung and left to start her mission about 1 month after i got here, is super excited about the work, and we spent most of the 3 days together - she was telling me all about a lot of the people i helped with, and she said, "what i've noticed from serving here after you left is that EVERYONE knows you - you must be a really good contactor, cuz everyone knows about the church from you." that made me feel good, and like i really did do something with my time in jakarta. she also said it was weird to be with a bule who actually says hi to the creepy guys that always yell stuff at us as we pass by - i told her they're people too, and i don't feel like they should be ignored. i'm not gonna go outta my way to talk to them, but if they say hi to me, the least i can do is say hi back. it made me feel a lot better about how i conduct myself here.
wow, this is getting too long and my time is almost up, but at the meeting we had with elder pratt, i basically got my butt spanked. everything he said, i knew was true - i see it in my own house, i feel it in my heart every day...us missionaries ARE NOT DOING ENOUGH here. i don't have time to go into details, but he certainly opened my eyes, and i'm just hoping i'll be able to apply what he and his wife taught - altho part of me also feels like i just wasted 15 months of my mission riding up and down on buses trying to find people. but i was a really good meeting... i just dunno how much of an effect it'll have here in bandung :(
today was thanksgiving, we gave thanks by having pday at the church, playing american football and soccer, with a tiny bit of basketball at the end. then we ate a SWEET thanksgiving dinner at senopati, complete with apple and pumpkin pie at the end. it was short, sweet, and fun. basically just nice to not be the only bule for a few days.
anywho, we just got back from jakarta, and i'm tired and my time is about up - so i love you all! thanks for being wonderful, and have another great week! loves~
~Sister Sara
ps mom i got both the packages - my chocolate and the cards (holy cow, kel goes to A TON of work for those things!), and my christmas package. i kinda wanna open it now if there's anything i'll be able to use before christmas like you had last year, but i also like to save it for the surprise of having it on christmas day...what do you think? thanks! love you!
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Thursday, November 18, 2010
kelemahan manusia sy
well, last week was a whole bunch of running around getting stuff for the halloween party...and then it rained all morning and almost all afternoon saturday, and i KNEW my numbers were gonna be low...which they were. most of the branch didn't come, only 1 investigator showed up, and half the people at the party were the 2 families of the primary presidency there for the childrens program on sunday. so....ya, i overplanned. A LOT. but for all of us that went, we had fun, and it was good. at first i was pretty disappointed and actually frustrated, but then i had a quote from PMG come to my mind that goes something like, "no effort exerted in service is in vain." so that actually made me feel better, and enjoy the party more. i was a black cat, and jo was an angel. it was fun.
as far as appointments go this week, nothing too exciting...we finished the Family Proclamation with pak siregar and his wife, which he agreed with all of it, so there isn't anything to report on with that....we read 3 nephi 11 with ibu dina, and talked about authority and power - but of course we hafta be soft, so we didn't directly say anything about her own personal baptism, but i think next week i might go into further detail about that. little by little....
monday we met with the prabowohadi family again, and they're good to sit and listen to us, but when we challenged them to pray that night with a prayer of gratitude, not ASKING for anything, only giving thanks, the dad made it perfectly clear again that they're in their church for good. and yet i still feel like if they would just TRY what we give to them for challenges, he'd feel happier in his life....i dunno. they're a GREAT family. but he won't do anything we ask them to. we gave the mom a hymn and childrens songbook, so i'm hoping she'll read and sing those, and that'll help her understand our church and its doctrines more. i feel like if we can touch the mom, the dad'll come along eventually. we'll see. i talk a lot about temples and eternal families while i'm there tho...
so the other day during personal study, i had an idea hit me so hard that i immediately did as it said....draw a pic of the tree of life, and THATS how we can help our inactive members find their testimonies again. which is pretty interesting, cuz 2 of our 5 families are already active again...and the other 3 are hard to meet with. but maybe this'll help me in the future? anywho, so i drew the pic, and then found the references that describe the meaning of each symbol. then, i drew 4 different people - for the 4 different types of people found in 1 nephi 8 - those who are lost the entire time, those who taste of the fruit but are ashamed, those who taste of the fruit and rejoice, and then those who are in the building making fun of those eating of the fruit. it's pretty cool, and i see now that that was certainly the HG working through me. i still don't know when i'll use it, but hopefully it'll be something that'll touch other's lives.
yesterday we tried on shirts for a wedding this weekend - a couple in the branch are getting married (after 10 years together...holy cow! yup, that's not too unheard of here...) on saturday, and us sisters are the welcoming committee, and i'm also helping by playing the piano for it. i'm not gonna lie....you're gonna LOVE pics of these outfits. weddings here use clothes that are STELLAR and BRIGHT and AWESOME. i wanna make myself an outfit before i leave. maybe i'll do that together with making my own jeans....
anywho, thats about it for the week. today we're going to take pics with the widyataman bball team, so i'm excited for that. it's been a few weeks since we've practiced, cuz they're coach is busy with other teams. and next week we're off to jakarta to meet with pres pratt, a member of the 70, and then we'll have a small "thanksgiving lunch" on thursday before we go home. yay!
this week i've learned that the HG is strongest with us when we follow the commandments. when we don't follow those commandments, the blessings are taken from us, along with the HG, and without Him, i can't do this work i'm suppposed to be. so marilah....let's all follow the commandments better this next week so we can be more worthy to recieve of the HG and blessings that come! i love you all, thanks for the support, and I'M GONNA BE AN AUNT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! loves~
~Sara
as far as appointments go this week, nothing too exciting...we finished the Family Proclamation with pak siregar and his wife, which he agreed with all of it, so there isn't anything to report on with that....we read 3 nephi 11 with ibu dina, and talked about authority and power - but of course we hafta be soft, so we didn't directly say anything about her own personal baptism, but i think next week i might go into further detail about that. little by little....
monday we met with the prabowohadi family again, and they're good to sit and listen to us, but when we challenged them to pray that night with a prayer of gratitude, not ASKING for anything, only giving thanks, the dad made it perfectly clear again that they're in their church for good. and yet i still feel like if they would just TRY what we give to them for challenges, he'd feel happier in his life....i dunno. they're a GREAT family. but he won't do anything we ask them to. we gave the mom a hymn and childrens songbook, so i'm hoping she'll read and sing those, and that'll help her understand our church and its doctrines more. i feel like if we can touch the mom, the dad'll come along eventually. we'll see. i talk a lot about temples and eternal families while i'm there tho...
so the other day during personal study, i had an idea hit me so hard that i immediately did as it said....draw a pic of the tree of life, and THATS how we can help our inactive members find their testimonies again. which is pretty interesting, cuz 2 of our 5 families are already active again...and the other 3 are hard to meet with. but maybe this'll help me in the future? anywho, so i drew the pic, and then found the references that describe the meaning of each symbol. then, i drew 4 different people - for the 4 different types of people found in 1 nephi 8 - those who are lost the entire time, those who taste of the fruit but are ashamed, those who taste of the fruit and rejoice, and then those who are in the building making fun of those eating of the fruit. it's pretty cool, and i see now that that was certainly the HG working through me. i still don't know when i'll use it, but hopefully it'll be something that'll touch other's lives.
yesterday we tried on shirts for a wedding this weekend - a couple in the branch are getting married (after 10 years together...holy cow! yup, that's not too unheard of here...) on saturday, and us sisters are the welcoming committee, and i'm also helping by playing the piano for it. i'm not gonna lie....you're gonna LOVE pics of these outfits. weddings here use clothes that are STELLAR and BRIGHT and AWESOME. i wanna make myself an outfit before i leave. maybe i'll do that together with making my own jeans....
anywho, thats about it for the week. today we're going to take pics with the widyataman bball team, so i'm excited for that. it's been a few weeks since we've practiced, cuz they're coach is busy with other teams. and next week we're off to jakarta to meet with pres pratt, a member of the 70, and then we'll have a small "thanksgiving lunch" on thursday before we go home. yay!
this week i've learned that the HG is strongest with us when we follow the commandments. when we don't follow those commandments, the blessings are taken from us, along with the HG, and without Him, i can't do this work i'm suppposed to be. so marilah....let's all follow the commandments better this next week so we can be more worthy to recieve of the HG and blessings that come! i love you all, thanks for the support, and I'M GONNA BE AN AUNT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! loves~
~Sara
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Bersiap-siap untuk Halloween!
ah, i'm soooo glad you got to meet so many Indonesians! now you understand why i have so much love for these people - they truly are the salt of the earth. Haha, and good they knew who i was...i think i'll forever more be known as "that tall sister."
this week has been a whole lot of preparations for this halloween party on saturday... we're getting things together, slowly but surely. i started iyt basically been doing most of it myself (because 1-it's too hard to explain games, and supplies and everything so that the others will understand..it's just easier to do it myself, and 2-no one else seemed too excited about things). however, since we've started shopping for things, and i HAVE had to try and explain everything to Jo so that i can get what i need, she's been getting excited as well, and is planning on being an angel, as well as made a "happy halloween" sign to hang up. she's really good to me, and although the language barrier hurts us a lot of the time, she's patient with me, and i especially like to see her getting all excited about this. the other sisters aren't AS excited, but they did buy masks at the store yesterday, so that means they'll at least participate :P haha. today for pday, we're gonna try to make caramel apples and sugar cookies (notice the word "try" - cuz i'm not sure how it's gonna turn out....), so we'll see how that goes. friday and saturday we'll be decorating and getting all the last minute things put together.
sunday, jo and i helped with preparations for the primary program next week... so cute, but CRAZY! only 9 kids, but man there were kids EVERYWHERE. after they were done, we announced the halloween party again, and you should've seen the kids! haha, they were SOOO excited, and one of the kids (Jay...SOOO dang cute) wasn't talking to anyone in specific, just anyone who would listen, how he was going to wear his batman outfit, and his wings were going to look like this, and he'd be able to run around with the wings flying in the air, etc etc....haha, so cute. we were also trying to get them excited about inviting friends to the party...so hopefully they do. i've already got 2 of our close neighbors to come - one is like our mom here, Teh Ita, and then Oma is our landlady, who has 2 little grandsons that live with her....i've also given flyers to all of my english classes! so i told pres santoso (the branch president) i'm hoping for at least 50 people....he raised his eyebrows at that number, but i'm REALLY hoping we reach it. it'll be fun :)
sunday, jo and i helped with preparations for the primary program next week... so cute, but CRAZY! only 9 kids, but man there were kids EVERYWHERE. after they were done, we announced the halloween party again, and you should've seen the kids! haha, they were SOOO excited, and one of the kids (Jay...SOOO dang cute) wasn't talking to anyone in specific, just anyone who would listen, how he was going to wear his batman outfit, and his wings were going to look like this, and he'd be able to run around with the wings flying in the air, etc etc....haha, so cute. we were also trying to get them excited about inviting friends to the party...so hopefully they do. i've already got 2 of our close neighbors to come - one is like our mom here, Teh Ita, and then Oma is our landlady, who has 2 little grandsons that live with her....i've also given flyers to all of my english classes! so i told pres santoso (the branch president) i'm hoping for at least 50 people....he raised his eyebrows at that number, but i'm REALLY hoping we reach it. it'll be fun :)
sunday we met with Ibu Dina, and she's still good...we taught the gospel of Jesus Christ, which she agreed with, but this week i want to focus more on the power and authority that's needed, especially with Baptism and recieving the Holy Ghost (yes, things are SUPER slow here, and we have to take things slow so that we don't offend anyone). we'll see how things go...
Wednesday we met with one of my contacts, and she was super cool....she took us to a restaurant she used to work for, and then showed me off to everyone, haha. we didn't really have the environment to REALLY talk about the first discussion, but we did a simple explanation of the BofM...we still hafta follow up on that this week.
thursday was pak siregar.....oh, my favorite of all favorites. lol. we read "The Family: A Proclamation to the World" and would you believe in 2 1/2 hrs, we only got thru 3 paragraphs? i didn't think it'd be possible, but he wants an explanation for everything. first, it was that the family is central to God's plan for His children (why? how do you get that idea? don't you know that we're here to praise his name?). we read from Genesis, and after about 1/2 hr, he understood and actually agreed with us. woohoo! then it was that we're created in the image of God (don't you know that God doesn't have an image? that what the scriptures say is just symbolism so we can try to comprehend his image?)...ya, that one he could understand our belief, but couldn't agree. THEN, it was the resurrection...which i never realized, is really NEVER explained in the Bible. only in the BofM (i was reading that happiness book from elder ballard friday after we'd met with pak siregar, and so now i have added info to share with him this week). crazy crazy. but he thought our spirits go to some place to wait for the resurrection, and when the resurrection comes, our spirits go up to live with God. no body. cuz the body is not holy enough. so what about Christ? didn't he have a body when he was resurrected? why wouldn't we get the same? cuz He is the Son of God...we're just man. yeah.....like that. however, one of my biggest triumphs was when he actually started to agree with us...that, ya, it DOES make sense that the resurrection would be bodies of a PERFECTED FORM that are returned to our spirits. man alive...so fun, pak siregar. i truly do cherish every opportunity that we have to meet together.
anywho...that really is basically it. what have i learned this week? jangan dengar desas-desus. it was a real happenin' week. i finished Revelations today, and holy cow...the last few chapters are awesome, i understood them cuz it's so flat out, but the middle chapters were hard....i wanna go back and try understanding them better. but hey! i finished the New Testament! woohoo! now i think i might start with the old testament....i've read a bunch of chapters there that have connections with the new testament, and there is SOOOOOO MUCH INFO there. and i've got 4 months to read it! haha. anywho, all is well in paradise here, hope all is well back home (is it cold yet? it rains literally EVERY DAY here, and yesterday it rained all day long...holy cow), know i love you all, and thanks so much for your prayers and support! loves~
Sis Sara
this week has been a whole lot of preparations for this halloween party on saturday... we're getting things together, slowly but surely. i started iyt basically been doing most of it myself (because 1-it's too hard to explain games, and supplies and everything so that the others will understand..it's just easier to do it myself, and 2-no one else seemed too excited about things). however, since we've started shopping for things, and i HAVE had to try and explain everything to Jo so that i can get what i need, she's been getting excited as well, and is planning on being an angel, as well as made a "happy halloween" sign to hang up. she's really good to me, and although the language barrier hurts us a lot of the time, she's patient with me, and i especially like to see her getting all excited about this. the other sisters aren't AS excited, but they did buy masks at the store yesterday, so that means they'll at least participate :P haha. today for pday, we're gonna try to make caramel apples and sugar cookies (notice the word "try" - cuz i'm not sure how it's gonna turn out....), so we'll see how that goes. friday and saturday we'll be decorating and getting all the last minute things put together.
sunday, jo and i helped with preparations for the primary program next week... so cute, but CRAZY! only 9 kids, but man there were kids EVERYWHERE. after they were done, we announced the halloween party again, and you should've seen the kids! haha, they were SOOO excited, and one of the kids (Jay...SOOO dang cute) wasn't talking to anyone in specific, just anyone who would listen, how he was going to wear his batman outfit, and his wings were going to look like this, and he'd be able to run around with the wings flying in the air, etc etc....haha, so cute. we were also trying to get them excited about inviting friends to the party...so hopefully they do. i've already got 2 of our close neighbors to come - one is like our mom here, Teh Ita, and then Oma is our landlady, who has 2 little grandsons that live with her....i've also given flyers to all of my english classes! so i told pres santoso (the branch president) i'm hoping for at least 50 people....he raised his eyebrows at that number, but i'm REALLY hoping we reach it. it'll be fun :)
sunday, jo and i helped with preparations for the primary program next week... so cute, but CRAZY! only 9 kids, but man there were kids EVERYWHERE. after they were done, we announced the halloween party again, and you should've seen the kids! haha, they were SOOO excited, and one of the kids (Jay...SOOO dang cute) wasn't talking to anyone in specific, just anyone who would listen, how he was going to wear his batman outfit, and his wings were going to look like this, and he'd be able to run around with the wings flying in the air, etc etc....haha, so cute. we were also trying to get them excited about inviting friends to the party...so hopefully they do. i've already got 2 of our close neighbors to come - one is like our mom here, Teh Ita, and then Oma is our landlady, who has 2 little grandsons that live with her....i've also given flyers to all of my english classes! so i told pres santoso (the branch president) i'm hoping for at least 50 people....he raised his eyebrows at that number, but i'm REALLY hoping we reach it. it'll be fun :)
sunday we met with Ibu Dina, and she's still good...we taught the gospel of Jesus Christ, which she agreed with, but this week i want to focus more on the power and authority that's needed, especially with Baptism and recieving the Holy Ghost (yes, things are SUPER slow here, and we have to take things slow so that we don't offend anyone). we'll see how things go...
Wednesday we met with one of my contacts, and she was super cool....she took us to a restaurant she used to work for, and then showed me off to everyone, haha. we didn't really have the environment to REALLY talk about the first discussion, but we did a simple explanation of the BofM...we still hafta follow up on that this week.
thursday was pak siregar.....oh, my favorite of all favorites. lol. we read "The Family: A Proclamation to the World" and would you believe in 2 1/2 hrs, we only got thru 3 paragraphs? i didn't think it'd be possible, but he wants an explanation for everything. first, it was that the family is central to God's plan for His children (why? how do you get that idea? don't you know that we're here to praise his name?). we read from Genesis, and after about 1/2 hr, he understood and actually agreed with us. woohoo! then it was that we're created in the image of God (don't you know that God doesn't have an image? that what the scriptures say is just symbolism so we can try to comprehend his image?)...ya, that one he could understand our belief, but couldn't agree. THEN, it was the resurrection...which i never realized, is really NEVER explained in the Bible. only in the BofM (i was reading that happiness book from elder ballard friday after we'd met with pak siregar, and so now i have added info to share with him this week). crazy crazy. but he thought our spirits go to some place to wait for the resurrection, and when the resurrection comes, our spirits go up to live with God. no body. cuz the body is not holy enough. so what about Christ? didn't he have a body when he was resurrected? why wouldn't we get the same? cuz He is the Son of God...we're just man. yeah.....like that. however, one of my biggest triumphs was when he actually started to agree with us...that, ya, it DOES make sense that the resurrection would be bodies of a PERFECTED FORM that are returned to our spirits. man alive...so fun, pak siregar. i truly do cherish every opportunity that we have to meet together.
anywho...that really is basically it. what have i learned this week? jangan dengar desas-desus. it was a real happenin' week. i finished Revelations today, and holy cow...the last few chapters are awesome, i understood them cuz it's so flat out, but the middle chapters were hard....i wanna go back and try understanding them better. but hey! i finished the New Testament! woohoo! now i think i might start with the old testament....i've read a bunch of chapters there that have connections with the new testament, and there is SOOOOOO MUCH INFO there. and i've got 4 months to read it! haha. anywho, all is well in paradise here, hope all is well back home (is it cold yet? it rains literally EVERY DAY here, and yesterday it rained all day long...holy cow), know i love you all, and thanks so much for your prayers and support! loves~
Sis Sara
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
dan kelebayan sedang mulai....
wow...another week has come and gone, and what did i do this week? seriously....time is going by so fast, it's hard to believe i've already been out this long!
this weekend we said goodbye to sister simanjuntak, and hello to sis hasibuan. me and jo are still together, and mongan and hasi have to figure out bandung on mongan's 10 days experience here....haha. but, actually mongan has been sick since last thursday, and jo hasn't been feeling very well most of the week (apparently siman was sick in jakarta too...so i dunno if they all ate something that i didn't, or what, cuz i've felt fine...), so it's actually been me and hasi most of the time since she got here. but it's good...she's fun, and it's nice to have someone new. she was the one sister that i hadn't met before, so now i've met all the missionaries except the new one in malang from Hong Kong. she's very sarcastic, which i like, and she helps the atmosphere in our home be cheerful in a better way than it was before...at least that's my feelings. hopefully things continue to go well :)
at ENHAII last week, i played this stupid game that we'd always play in seminary for "getting to know people," and they LOVED it. it was hilarious. i have video of it....we started with shapes and colors (4 shapes and 5 colors), and the person in the middle would say "i wanna sit in a seat with a GREEN (or star shape, or whatever they wanted) color," and then anyone with a green colored shape had to get up and switch seats....haha. then we moved on to where they had to use their own english, and come up with new things....like, "i wanna sit in a seat of someone with brown eyes." it was hilarious, and they loved it. then, on monday, i gave them a "HUKUMAN" or punishment for speaking anything except english in class....haha, they had to sing, "i'm a little teapot" in front of the class, and THAT was hilarious. one class actually liked singing it, so they did it lots, but the other class was SOOOO careful not to say ANYTHING AT ALL just in case they did say something not in english. it was so funny. i love these classes.
ibu dina was an appointment that hasi came with me to....and she totally took over, and helped give ibu dina another testimony about joseph smith and his divine calling as a prophet of God. it was so great, and the spirit was really strong, and so i invited ibu dina again to church....and got shut down again. she said she wants to, but it's a problem with time, and she's apparently got a lot of service to do with her church right now...so she said hopefully next month. ya, hopefully. but she's still trying to figure things out with joseph smith, and i dunno what else to do to try and help her...but i'll keep praying and hopefully come up with something.
yesterday i taught the 5th and 6th grade classes at a contact's school for an hour each, and that was cute. i'm not gonna lie...i really hate how i get treated like a celebrity just cuz of my skin color, but these kids were SOOOO excited, there's no way i can't not be excited to meet them as well. ALL the kids were running up to me to shake my hand, and the first class i taught had about 40 younger students outside the room, looking in thru the windows and door, taking pictures. ridiculously cute when they're so small. the kids are smart too...i'm always impressed with how well people here know english. it's definitely gonna be a major language spoken here in another 10 years.
now, my major accomplishment for the week...also yesterday was english class at the church, which usually only has 1 or 2 students if i'm lucky (the last 2 weeks there wasn't anyone), but i changed the time for the class, hoping it would allow more people time to get off work and still get to the class in time, plus i've given pass along cards with the info on it to EVERYONE i meet, and yesterday i had 4 students! and then i got home, and had one other guy call and say he'd come, but the door was locked (i have no idea what door he went to, but it obviously wasn't the right one....), so i should've had 5 students! hopefully this'll continue, and i'll build up the class here to have about 10 or 15 students. thats the number that i think is best, so they'll ask questions and can do more activities together. anywho...so ya, i was proud of that.
this week i've been reading Revelations....and the more i read, the more confused i get. but, it's amazing what our church has done to help us understand the scriptures better....footnotes are INCREDIBLY helpful. i also found D&C 77, which made the first few chapters a heck of a lot easier to understand than before. so, my thought for this week is how fortunate, how BLESSED are we to have a living prophet on the earth today? someone who can lead us in the right direction, and help us TRULY understand the Word of God...not with our own, human mind kinda way of thinking, but with the direction from above. joseph smith helped me A TON to better understand with his revelation in D&C 77, and i know that wasn't just given to TELL us what it meant, but to HELP us with the meaning. it also doesn't answer all the questions that you get reading from Revelations, but it helps you start in the right direction...and because of that, i've been led to better understand the rest of the book. i'm still not done, but i've enjoyed searching out the scriptures to find the meanings.
oh, btw, did i mention (no i did not...) that we got our first contact in a month last week? actually, i got 3, but HALLELUJAH! holy cow...mom, remember when you were talking about the different kinds of missionaries, and how every missionary is most likely each kind of missionary at one point or another of their mission? well....ya, i agree. last month was a hard month for me, and i dunno why, but it has taken me this long to really get outta it....hopefully it doesn't happen again. but i can definitely tell that a different atmosphere at our house is helping things. i just hope it continues!
anywho, thats it for me...we got an appointment later, and i still hafta do my college application, so i'll ttyl, and i love you all! have a great week, loves~
Sis Sara
this weekend we said goodbye to sister simanjuntak, and hello to sis hasibuan. me and jo are still together, and mongan and hasi have to figure out bandung on mongan's 10 days experience here....haha. but, actually mongan has been sick since last thursday, and jo hasn't been feeling very well most of the week (apparently siman was sick in jakarta too...so i dunno if they all ate something that i didn't, or what, cuz i've felt fine...), so it's actually been me and hasi most of the time since she got here. but it's good...she's fun, and it's nice to have someone new. she was the one sister that i hadn't met before, so now i've met all the missionaries except the new one in malang from Hong Kong. she's very sarcastic, which i like, and she helps the atmosphere in our home be cheerful in a better way than it was before...at least that's my feelings. hopefully things continue to go well :)
at ENHAII last week, i played this stupid game that we'd always play in seminary for "getting to know people," and they LOVED it. it was hilarious. i have video of it....we started with shapes and colors (4 shapes and 5 colors), and the person in the middle would say "i wanna sit in a seat with a GREEN (or star shape, or whatever they wanted) color," and then anyone with a green colored shape had to get up and switch seats....haha. then we moved on to where they had to use their own english, and come up with new things....like, "i wanna sit in a seat of someone with brown eyes." it was hilarious, and they loved it. then, on monday, i gave them a "HUKUMAN" or punishment for speaking anything except english in class....haha, they had to sing, "i'm a little teapot" in front of the class, and THAT was hilarious. one class actually liked singing it, so they did it lots, but the other class was SOOOO careful not to say ANYTHING AT ALL just in case they did say something not in english. it was so funny. i love these classes.
ibu dina was an appointment that hasi came with me to....and she totally took over, and helped give ibu dina another testimony about joseph smith and his divine calling as a prophet of God. it was so great, and the spirit was really strong, and so i invited ibu dina again to church....and got shut down again. she said she wants to, but it's a problem with time, and she's apparently got a lot of service to do with her church right now...so she said hopefully next month. ya, hopefully. but she's still trying to figure things out with joseph smith, and i dunno what else to do to try and help her...but i'll keep praying and hopefully come up with something.
yesterday i taught the 5th and 6th grade classes at a contact's school for an hour each, and that was cute. i'm not gonna lie...i really hate how i get treated like a celebrity just cuz of my skin color, but these kids were SOOOO excited, there's no way i can't not be excited to meet them as well. ALL the kids were running up to me to shake my hand, and the first class i taught had about 40 younger students outside the room, looking in thru the windows and door, taking pictures. ridiculously cute when they're so small. the kids are smart too...i'm always impressed with how well people here know english. it's definitely gonna be a major language spoken here in another 10 years.
now, my major accomplishment for the week...also yesterday was english class at the church, which usually only has 1 or 2 students if i'm lucky (the last 2 weeks there wasn't anyone), but i changed the time for the class, hoping it would allow more people time to get off work and still get to the class in time, plus i've given pass along cards with the info on it to EVERYONE i meet, and yesterday i had 4 students! and then i got home, and had one other guy call and say he'd come, but the door was locked (i have no idea what door he went to, but it obviously wasn't the right one....), so i should've had 5 students! hopefully this'll continue, and i'll build up the class here to have about 10 or 15 students. thats the number that i think is best, so they'll ask questions and can do more activities together. anywho...so ya, i was proud of that.
this week i've been reading Revelations....and the more i read, the more confused i get. but, it's amazing what our church has done to help us understand the scriptures better....footnotes are INCREDIBLY helpful. i also found D&C 77, which made the first few chapters a heck of a lot easier to understand than before. so, my thought for this week is how fortunate, how BLESSED are we to have a living prophet on the earth today? someone who can lead us in the right direction, and help us TRULY understand the Word of God...not with our own, human mind kinda way of thinking, but with the direction from above. joseph smith helped me A TON to better understand with his revelation in D&C 77, and i know that wasn't just given to TELL us what it meant, but to HELP us with the meaning. it also doesn't answer all the questions that you get reading from Revelations, but it helps you start in the right direction...and because of that, i've been led to better understand the rest of the book. i'm still not done, but i've enjoyed searching out the scriptures to find the meanings.
oh, btw, did i mention (no i did not...) that we got our first contact in a month last week? actually, i got 3, but HALLELUJAH! holy cow...mom, remember when you were talking about the different kinds of missionaries, and how every missionary is most likely each kind of missionary at one point or another of their mission? well....ya, i agree. last month was a hard month for me, and i dunno why, but it has taken me this long to really get outta it....hopefully it doesn't happen again. but i can definitely tell that a different atmosphere at our house is helping things. i just hope it continues!
anywho, thats it for me...we got an appointment later, and i still hafta do my college application, so i'll ttyl, and i love you all! have a great week, loves~
Sis Sara
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