ayo, bandung!‏

so it's official...i'm in Bandung! and man alive...it's been weird starting over again, but it's good too. i'm excited to see how things go here, but it'll also be weird to not be here 9 months to see how my efforts pay off. we'll see what happens tho...
so last week the highlight was by far the phone call i got from pres groberg...he told me that he'd read my green letter for the week before, and he LOVED my idea about starting up something with basketball in bandung to help with the missionary efforts here! remember when you talked to me about that when i first got here, dad? i talked to pres marchant about it, but he wanted to stick with english classes....but i figured i'd give it another try with the new pres, and i'm glad i did! there's a member here in bandung who is REALLY into basketball, and so my plan is to work with him to find people and a place to play...that would be most effective. the church here only has one hoop and isn't a court at all, but we're thinking if we can find a place....well, we'll see what can happen. i've only been here 4 days, so it's definitely still a work in progress, but that'll definitely be my next project that i'm excited to get started on :) dad, PLEASE let me know what you guys did in finland (preferably separate from your usual email,since i never have time to read that..), and if anyone else has ideas about what to do,PLEASE tell my family members so i can get the information. i really am not at all sure what to do, but i figure if i can at least get it started, Putres (the member) can keep it going when i'm gone.
so friday we had a bit of an unexpected surprise...sis bajodo had just gotten to senopati, and she joined me and siman until jo and i left sunday morning. she's been a good comp... we're still in that first awkward stage of getting to know each other, but every day seems to get better. we've contacted a few times together, and i like how she contacts with me....not overpowering, but also not silent. which is good...cuz we're gonna be doing A LOT of contacting here. yes...she is my new comp, and sis lie and chris are together. so this first week, we are "berempat," or all four together, so that jo and i can get to know the area and members before we get lost here. lol....which i'm not gonna lie, is DEFINITELY gonna happen, i can already tell. i'm totally turned around here, and where in jakarta i could get on busway and always find my way home,here i have NO idea. there is no mass transportation like that, so....ya. it's gonna be quite the experience here.
but i really am excited to start new here....which i'm seriously doing. i loved jakarta, but i'm ready to become a better me, which i feel i can do better here (yes mom, one of those things is to be cleaner and more organized...so far so good! haha....hopefully that lasts). it's been fun being with lie again...we enjoy each other a lot more now :) haha, but again...things are still new, and it's all 4 of us, so of course it's more like "girl's week" than anything else. next week will start the test of companionships and appointments and all that.
i got here on sunday (they had branch conference down here, so pres thought it'd be more efficient if jo and i came down with him, then sis white went home with them), and it was directly meeting the branch members, who LOVE sis white, so...hopefully i find a place in their hearts as well. the branch here is VERY close, which i've already been able to see. everyone is more like family than just friends. i really thought that 2 of the members were brother and sister by the way they were teasing each other, the things they were saying, and how the lady's 2 yr old kid was so close with the guy, but then found out that they'd just grown up together, and with so few members they are REALLY close. so church was good, but next week is going to be A LOT smaller, since this last week had so many visitors. tonight we also have a fireside, so it'll be fun to get to know the members there as well.
well....there's not a whole lot else to say. i'm excited about starting up the work here in bandung, and especially my bball idea! i also know if jo and i work hard, we'll be able to start teaching and find those here who are ready to better their lives through this Gospel. i found out last week that the word "gospel" literally means "good news." isn't that so fitting? so that's what my work here is...to bring the "good news" to the people of indo. thanks so always for the support and love that i always know i have with you all! i love you!
~Sister Sara

1 minggu lagi di Jakarta....‏

well...by the time i leave jakarta, i'll be one week short of having a baby, haha. we got a phone call on our way home from an appointment monday night, and sister white, the sister that i'm switching with in Bandung, had called president and asked permission to stay until after sunday this week, cuz they have branch conference sunday, and she's in the choir. so...haha, i'm still in jakarta until next monday. which is turning out good, cuz chern is giving a talk on sunday, and i'm going to be here to see it! plus, our neighbor is comin to church on sunday, so i'll get to witness what happens when a muslim, wearing a jilbob, walks into the church, haha. not gonna lie...i'm pretty excited to see everybody's faces. but i'm especially excited to see how she enjoys the meetings.
and well....that's basically my week. i wrote on saturday, so there isn't much else to say. monday we had a full day of appointments, and oh! i almost forgot! i sent home a package, mom, so you should be getting that next week...they said it should take 3-5 days. it's my clothes from singapore, stuff for you guys from singapore (not much...sorry, singapore is A LOT more expensive than indo...), my surprise from taman mini that i bought (you HAVE to tell me what you think...i think it is the CUTEST thing in the world!), and best of all, all my pics on cds from the beginning of the mish til about 2-3 weeks ago. sorry, it doesn't have taman safari, but it's got everything else....more than i'm sure you'll be interested in, but i didn't want to take any chances of losing my pics...so i have my camera card, those cds, and my hard drive. lol. so DON'T LOSE THOSE CDS in case something happens to my hard drive. these pics are my entire mission (well....together with my journal), so that's why i sent it home. kel can use whatever she wants for the blog.
anywho...so ya, i had my final lesson with chern, and she's still so awesome. i'm really REALLY gonna miss her. she's really given me that "reason to keep going" that i think every missionary needs to feel and remember when serving the Lord. when you feel what success feels like, it keeps you going everyday...because you never know who you might talk to that will become that next success. i'm incredibly grateful for her and the meaning that she's given to my mission.
we also had a last minute appointment with Ibu Edi and Iin, and family. they're so awesome...i just wish they'd take the church a little more seriously. which i tried to tell them in a roundabout way. i bore my testimony to them about the importance of scriptures, and finding out about God's secrets, and that we can do that by reading His words (Mosiah 1:5-7), and then i encouraged them to keep reading the scriptures so they'd understand God's secrets...especially with the Book of Mormon. hopefully something keeps clicking with them...i really do love that family, and want them to feel the joy that comes from the restored gospel.
tuesday was another full day....in fact i spent sunday night packing cuz i knew we wouldn't have any time monday or tuesday...and sure enough, tuesday was packed. we had our usual full day, going and visiting sis atika, who is also SOOO cool. she's 7 months along now, and so when i see her again, she'll have had her baby!!!
we also met with a man that lives close to sis atika, and he was complaining about being sick...as he was smoking. which made me and siman have a pretty good convo about the effects of smoking, cuz her dad stopped smoking, but gained weight...so he went back to smoking. i told her thats why kids just can't start, cuz when they start young, thats what happens....later on in life, they have problems all around. sad sad.
there really isn't a whole lot else to say. today sis headed off to solo.....we've been together almost 11 months. crazy. but i'm excited for her, and she's excited for me, so it wasn't too bitter of a farewell. then we waited at senopati until sis lily got here from malang....and while we waited, i watched the movie about pres hinckley, and it was pretty good. i really liked how they focused on the fact that he didn't just become the amazing prophet that we all know and love....it was a long process that started from his birth. which is the same kind of process we're all involved in in our lives. so another push to hang on, endure well, serve as much as you can, and you'll become the person that God needs you to be.
anywho...i love you all, and next week I WILL BE IN BANDUNG! so woohoo for me! lol...a new adventure starts, and i'm ready for it :) hopefully i can do some good down there, that's all i ask. be safe, and know i'm thinking about you all here (especially with the 24th weekend...ugh, jealousy. but there's a reason i'm only missing july once on my mission!),

~Sister Sara

AKHIRNYA NAIK GAJAH & mau ke...‏

well....i'm only a few days late on this. sorry...hopefully mom wasn't too worried. we didn't have time wednesday cuz we were too busy at TAMAN SAFARI!!!! woo hoo! haha. it was so much fun....and I GOT TO RIDE AN ELEPHANT! it seriously was the coolest thing ever....but we had to ride on the back, so now my new quest is to eventually ride on an elephant's head. i have video of the tour guide getting on the head...and it was amazing. i wanna do it :) Elder & Sis millecam were amazing, and told us that if we could get permission to go, they'd take us sisters before me and sis got transferred. so we asked....and it was a no that became a yes, and IT WAS AWESOME. seriously. i have so many fun pics, i can't hardly wait to show you when i get home!

so...in other news. I'M MOVING TO BANDUNG! i just got a phone call from the office elders a few hours ago, and i'll be down there with sis lie and sis christensen (sis chris was sis's comp when we first got here, if you remember her...), but we'll see what happens. there have been quite a few events happen with the sisters (people going home, coming, etc), and so this transfer is still a lot up in the air until pres figures things out. i'm not gonna lie...bandung was the last place i wanted to go, and it'll be interesting being with sis lie again, especially with sis chris, but i'm excited to see how things go. hopefully my patience has grown a lot since i first got put with sis lie, so we can work more together in bandung, and not so much me pushing her to do everything. but it'll be good....i dunno where everyone else is going yet, but i'm excited to see where sis is going especially. i'll be heading down to bandung next wednesday, so i might email before i leave, or after i get there....we'll see.

so....i had 2 REALLY cool experiences this week that i wanna spend most of my time on. the first starts a few weeks ago...siman and i were on busway, and there was a man across from us who kept looking at our nametags. i had a feeling that i should talk to him, but we were too far from each other (i'm a little weird...i don't like yelling across other people and the aisle to talk to someone about the church...), and there were no seats open. so i sweated over what i should do, and eventually decided to just hand him a namecard before i got off. which is exactly what i did...which was totally awkward, but i felt good about it. sooo....wednesday night i got a phone call from this guy, and he wanted to meet! so i was happy. we met with him on thursday, and altho the meeting was a bit awkward, cuz he didn't know that we were going to share a message (even tho i told him that that was what we did when we met with people on the phone the night before), but we'll see....hopefully we didn't freak him out too bad. we didn't go into too much detail. i'm gonna call him tonight and see how he's doing. anywho....even tho nothing may come from this guy, i was glad to get a confirmation that i'd listened to the Holy Ghost with him.

then.....thursday morning i was out running up and down our street, and one of our neighbors was out fixing a chair. this neighbor is super smiley, and i always say hi to her in the mornings, but i've never had a chance to actually stop and talk to her....mostly cuz i think too much ("if i stop, what do i say? she's gonna think i'm a crazy bule just stopping, sweating and wanting to introduce myself after how many months living here? i can't do that"..........ya, that's what i've been doing for the last 6 or 7 months. lol, i know, i'm retarded), but this finally gave me a chance to stop and ask if she wanted any help. so i did, and as soon as she saw me at her gate, she threw the door open, and we talked for a good 1/2 hour. she wanted to know what we did, what it was that we taught, basically the whole shebang. then she told me that she's read the bible before, trying to compare it with the alquran, and she found that they're mostly the same. then i told her about the book of mormon, and she got so excited...she wanted to read it! so i told her i'd bring it by the next day with sis siman, and we would explain it to her. she's so funny...she likes to talk A LOT, so she tells us tons of stories, like other churches and what they do that she likes and doesn't like (yes...she goes to church with her friends when they invite her....and mind you, this is all while wearing a jilbob. lol she's awesome), and why she believes that Christ is our healer and that thru Him anyone can be healed. soo....ya, we're gonna try to build on that. well, siman'll hafta now, but seriously...this lady is so awesome. her name is ibu yanti, and when i ran past this morning, she said that she'd already read what we'd given her for hw, and she was excited for us to talk some more next week when she gets home from a trip she's taking to surabaya (where she wants to go to our church, but she's going with her friend, so she can only go if her friend wants to...lol, how awesome is she?). so again...i was highly disappointed in myself, waiting this long to stop and talk to ibu yanti after feeling like i needed to talk to her for 7 months, but i'm also so grateful that i finally did, and now she can find out for herself who Christ is, and what direction she wants to take her life. hopefully siman teaches her well :)

and last week...well, i have a new planner, so i have no idea what happened last week, but i'm sure it was fine. lol. nothing too exciting. this last week was full of all the events, and now next week's email is gonna be boring....sorry!

anyways....this week i've learned A LOT! a lot about following the promptings of the spirit, and making sure that i'm worthy to have that spirit. i've learned that, altho i've changed a lot here, i still have a lot of changes that need to be made (which means i need someone brave enough to help me know what changes are needed....) before i head home. i've learned that sometimes it's better to keep your mouth shut, even tho it's hard. i've learned that asking for forgiveness is a lot harder for me than forgiving. haha. i'm also learning how to cook indonesian food....now mom, don't get too excited. i just know how to cut stuff...i still hafta learn what stuff to mix in to make anything good. but it's a start :)

it's been a hard but good week. i learn more and more every day that when a storm comes, Heavenly Father will always reward you if you keep a positive attitude and just try to keep doing what you know is right. I know this mission is molding me into the person that God'll need me to be when i get home....i just hafta be more willing to bend, even when i think it's better to stay straight. i love you all so much, and hope that all is well at home. hopefully the reunion is fun...tell the fam hi for me and i love and miss them... especially my GMA!!!!!! loves, yach~

~Sister Sara

satu minggu lagi...

well, the 4th was a lot harder here than i thought it'd be...i have a feeling this whole month is going to be like that if i don't get busier and with someone who doesn't talk about going home all the time. it's been a long week, but it's still been a good one. we always have our ups and downs, but as long as there are more ups, the downs don't seem as bad :)

thursday i taught english class, and none of the regulars came...instead, it was a class full of new kids that were muslim, and i had a really nice conversation with their moms while they drew pictures of their families. it was different, but it was really fun. hopefully they keep coming.

friday, i finally got to meet pres groberg...and let me tell you, i am SOOO excited! he's exactly what this mission needs. he knows the language REALLY well (i was writing down words that he was saying so i could go home and look them up), and even sis groberg was talking in indo better than i did when i first got here. i guarantee in 3 years she'll be more fluent than me! but he introduced himself, and dad his son is serving his mission in finland right now, and he got to the MTC the same day as me and carter...so small world there. he shared a few things with us, like what he's looking for in the mission, and he really made a positive impression with the indonesian missionaries, which is good cuz thats where it's REALLY gotta start...and friday is zone conference, so we'll learn more about what he wants to do then. but the most exciting part is that sis groberg wants to come teaching with us! i am SOOO excited for that, cuz i love having someone there who can help you know how to teach better. so we'll see how things go, but i think the work is going to progress a bit quicker in the next few years.... :)

we've met with raz a few times this week...fridays was good...she had a problem with her dad, and so we watched a movie called "family answers" that was really good, with tons of advice on how to improve your family relationships...mostly for parents, but raz liked it a lot, and she's going to try apply the things she learned from that and Mosiah 2 (we read that last night together, and she got to write down all the ways that our families can be happier and more united) with her family while she's in australia these next 2 months. we just got back from lunch at her house, and i'm really gonna miss her. hopefully she's around when you guys come out...you'll like her a lot.

we also met with atika and her husband for FHE last week with the 2 office elders (elder silalahi served in Medan where atika was a member, and he's the one that sent me and siman to check up on her) to try and help him get more comfortable with the missionaries, and hopefully more open to atika coming to church after the baby is born. it was a really good lesson on families, and atika said after we left, he was happy with it. we also played an awesome new game that i want to always play for FHE now called James Bond (007)...i'll explain it when i get home, but it was really fun, and i think it helped him get a little bit more outside of his comfort zone. but atika is awesome, and i already told her we're coming to her house when you guys come...so you'll for sure meet her :)

for the 4th of july, we celebrated it with the english branch, and it was really fun...all the families that are here right now are young families, so we get to enjoy their hilarious kids. seriously. some of these kids say the darndest things. like..."what animal am i?" "you're a...........eating a donut!" (a lot funnier if you were there, i'm sure), among others. they're so dang cute. the millecams put on the party, and us missionaries were in charge of the games. then everyone from the different countries got to sing their national anthems, which was SOOO cool...we had sri lanka, australia, new zealand, malaysia, indonesia, and america. so it was really fun, but still not quite the cabin experience. to answer your quesion mom, the people that work here are here cuz of work....for the embassy, or oil companies, etc.....basically those 2 are the main companies, but i'm sure there are a few others.

Chern is still doing awesome. she really does just make me so happy! whenever i feel down about investigators or question different things, all i hafta do is think of her, and i know i was sent here for a reason...one of the main ones being her. she just told us monday that they're considering a job offer in china, and in a few weeks they'll hafta make a decision....so there ya go. between raz and chern, i might not have any reason to stay in jakarta much longer.

so tomorrow we're going to have interviews with pres groberg...and apparently he'll let us know about transfers after that. i hope nobody thinks i wanna get transferred...cuz i really don't completely....its just that 8 months is a lot of time, and i haven't experienced the real indonesian experience yet! so i'm getting excited to finally venture outta the big city, and see green again. oh how i miss green!

this week, i've really tried to focus more on serving sis simanjuntak...altho at times i'm REALLY crappy at it. but i'm trying, and hopefully that helps our relationship so that we can always come together, especially when we're teaching. cuz that's really where it gets important. i'm learning more and more that this mission is REALLY hard if there's only one of you talking at appointments....cuz there should be at least 4 people talking....me, my comp, the investigator, and the Holy Ghost. so it's something i'm working on :)

anywho, i hope you all enjoyed the cabin (ugh...the jealousy. i wanna play ball with the cousins!), and tell al hi and that i love her and that she looked absolutely gorgeous! oh, and to be safe when she heads to scotland...when is that? anywho, i love you all, thanks for everything! loves,

~Sister sara

setidaknya seminggu lagi di Jarkarta‏

this last week has been a bit of a blur...a lot of plans that got changed, and a lot of appointments that haven't happened...we had all these new investigators, but now we're finding out who really wants to meet with us and who doesn't. so it's been interesting. friday and saturday we basically spent the whole day at the church helping prep and present "Family Day" for the district here...it was a really good idea to help members (and anyone else interested) get more interested in their family history and doing things to preserve their own family's history. it had some really good ideas in it, but if i were in charge, there are a few things i would do differently...mostly stuff that could get the kids more involved. the kids all just ran around the whole day, bored outta their minds...but i think if there had been some games dealing with family history or like coloring or drawing, they would've been more interested, and the parents could've focused more on rest of the activity. but it was fun...mom, there was a guy that brought a few of his plants and did a little presentation on keeping a garden....he apparently makes most his own medicines and food for his little store he runs, and i wanna go to his house to see for myself...it sounded really cool. i think you'd like to go see all his stuff.

we're teaching Raz about the Temple and also using the BofM to help her with her questions that she's having in her life right now. she's not really the type of person that likes to just sit down and read it like a book...she likes to find verses that inspire her, and then that's it...which kinda defeats the purpose of reading the scriptures, but we'll keep trying to help her understand. we just found out yesterday that she'll be leaving next thursday...so this is our last week with her! i'm sad, but then again i'm leaving too...so whatevs. she'll be here the next time i'm back here (sebelum saya pulang! haha, get that translated.... :P), so that's good enough...and she should still be learning when she gets back here in august. so we'll just see what happens with her.

so funny story...monday we were teaching chern about being a missionary as a member of the church, and she told us about her doctor who was in some protestant church, and that when her doctor asked what church she was in, she said she was a mormon, and the lady asked her how many wives her husband had, so then chern explained to her that that wasn't true...and at the end of her story she said, "i don't care what other people say...I'M PROUD TO SAY I'M A MORMON!" lol....she seriously made me so happy, she's so awesome. i can't wait for you to meet her...you'll love her too :)

tuesday we met up with one of our new investigators, and we weren't really sure how she'd take us...if she'd be friendly or not wanna meet again (ya...it happens pretty often here...). at first she was a little reluctant, but after i started asking about her kids and their weddings, and then she pulled out the photo album of her son's wedding and started explaining to me the customs of an indonesian wedding, she got a lot more comfortable and we were able to have a really good lesson with her on how she can help strengthen her family. she's a really cool lady...hopefully she continues to wanna learn, and will gain a desire to come to church...it's a ways from her house, but that'd be really cool.

so yesterday we went to Bro Leo's parent's house! (my mtc teacher, in case you don't remember)...they are a tiny bit wealthy. while everyone else was touring the house, i talked to his dad about the mission and different things with life...he's a really cool guy, very down to earth. it was fun getting to know them and spend time with them.

so,guess what i found!?!?!?!?! i wanna share my happiness with you all...i love jakarta! i finally bought a hard drive here, and guess how much it was? maybe around $70ish for 500 GB...mom, ask sean or jake or paul about what a deal that is...cuz it's a DEAL! then i finally found some nikes that just happened to be on sale, just happened to be the last pair the store had, and just happened to be almost my size (1/2 size too big, but i can handle it), so i bought a new pair of tennis shoes for when i move...cuz my shoes are already getting a little shaggy from the jakarta slime and grime. so this last week i spent over $100 here, but it was all for a good cause :) the most i've spent yet in Indo, by far. but it was well worth it.

this week has been a better week as far things with sis simanjuntak. i think we're both just to the point that we know a change is going to happen soon, so we're done arguing over things we don't agree on. haha. reminds me of sean... "don't sweat the toothpaste." true, my friend, true. but i've really felt this week just how ready i am to get moved...it's time. actually, speaking of getting moved...pres groberg (no i haven't met him yet, so i have nothing to tell you about him...sorry) is interviewing us next week before zone conference to decide who's getting moved, and where they're going...so next week i'll still be here, but the week after that...malang? samoga! i can only hope...but ya...from what the office elders have told the other missionaries, pres groberg is really cool, but very organized...and especially ready to get going on things here...semangat, as they like to say here. so i'm excited to meet him myself.

alright...well i love you all! hopefully all is well at home...let me know if there's anything you want here (like an HD)....or anything else i can do for you. loves!

~Sister Sara