minggu pelan di bandung‏

well, it's been a slow week, since we're starting from ground 0, but things are going to slowly pick up as we learn the area and get teaching.
so last week, while we were still with sis lie and christensen, we went to Pres Hanking's house (in the branch presidency here, and also the first member from Bandung to be baptized, and started learning about the church from Pres Marchant when he was here as a missionary), whose maid, Irma, is learning about the church. she's SUPER shy, so when she didn't want all 4 of us there to teach her, so jo and i waited for her with Pres Hanking, who was sick. it was actually totally awesome...we learned about his conversion, he told a few other stories, and then he read our palms and faces :) haha, yes, he is a bit of a fortune teller, and from what i've heard, he's the most correct fortune teller that they have in Indo as far as members go....he's supposed to be almost dead on every time. which i believed when the first thing he said after looking at my hand was "you like to drive....and you like to drive fast, ya?" ya...i was a little creeped out, but then mom you'll be happy to know that he told me to be careful with that...so i'll work on being more careful when i get home. he didn't say too much about who my future husband would be (whereas with the other sisters he's told which boyfriend they'll get married to), except that i would be hesitant about him, but that things would work out fine between us. he also said that i was gonna have 7 kids...and 2 of those were gonna be twins (haha, mom, i know you're smiling :P). i have it on film tho, so we can watch it when i get home, and i'll translate it for you. pretty interesting.
sunday was a milestone in my life...seriously. they needed someone to play the piano for sacrament. and of course no one else can do it. so i got the privilege of "sharing my talent." i hate to say it, but i do wish i would've practiced more. i was sweating like a pig. i played the 2 songs i can, and then for the sacrament song i just picked a song and only played the right hand, HA. ridiculous, but i did what i could. THEN we had branch counsel, and i was kindly asked to play the songs for the choir for DISTRICT CONFERENCE in october! how i get pulled into these things? yes, i'm stressing quite a bit, and yesterday i was practicing one of the songs over and over and over, until my fingers felt like they were gonna fall off...and it's still not as good as i want it to be. but seriously, district conference? that's the WHOLE west java! ugh. i hate playin in front of people. but....this is God molding me into the person i need to be....right? lol...i sure as heck hope so.
and MONDAY WE GOT OUR FIRST NEW INVESTIGATOR! there was a lady that jo contacted last week while we were walking to an appt with the other sisters, and so we showed up at her house monday (she didn't answer her phone). her daughter was there, and we got to learn about how ibu tunigan (i think that's her name?) went from muslim to christian. they're family seems to be really strong christians, and they don't smoke (we found that out pretty quick when some salespeople came by, trying to sell the new "healthy cigarettes" that have absolutely no side effects, but still give you the sensation of smoking....new from singapore! how do people come up with these things and still get away with it? jo and i just made faces at each other the whole time, and it was hilarious to watch ibu tunigan and rana's reaction to these guys......they were a lot nicer to us, thank goodness). anywho, after we taught the restoration, they were silent...and it was a little awkward, but they finally had a few questions, and agreed to let us come back next week after they read from the BofM and Joseph SMith's testimony. so that was awesome, but as much success as we've had this week with investigators.
i'm still trying to get things figured out with basketball, but after this we're going to head to a college with a friend of Putres to see what kind of service i can do there with bball. i also got permission (PRAISES!!!!!!!!) to play competitively with putres and his friends on friday nights, cuz putres said there's no way anyone is gonna trust me or be interested in the church until after they see me play... so ha! this talent i'm HAPPY to share with anyone and everyone. hopefully i can start talking to people, get them to come to english class, and eventually want to start learning about the church. at least thats the way Putres suggested i try. so today and tomorrow will be the time to see how things get started.
yesterday we went to a place here that's a lot like yellowstone, with hot springs and stuff, and so that was fun...except that it rained the whole time, and so we literally spent the whole day there without planning on it....we just didn't have any other way to get outta there! but it was fun, and we met some nice arabs who didn't talk quite as much to us after they found out we were christian missionaries. lol. i love this place.
so thats the cool stuff that happened this week! i'm still learning a lot here...directions, addresses, street names, the best places to eat....ya know, all those important things. but i'm also learning to work in a new area, and love the people that i meet. bandung has a lot more muslims than jakarta, and they are supposed to be a lot more fanatic than jakarta, so it's gonna be work finding people to teach, but i'm ready for the job. especially when it includes basketball. i love learning from the scriptures...i'm reading the New Testament now, and jordan sprague told me that he gained his testimony of the church when he read the bible...and i'm definitely starting to understand why. there is nothing that i've learned from our church that is contrary to what i'm reading from paul or any of the other apostles. i actually have found far more similarities than i was ready for...and so i have notes all over my bible now (haha, about time...most of the pages have been empty for far too long). this morning i read from 2 corinthians 11:13-15 about false prophets...and i know that what i'm preaching is NOT false. it's the truth, and its what will help anyone who accepts it to know God and Christ, and Their will for us here on earth. i know i have many faults and weaknesses, but my testimony is not one of them. i'll keep "working out my testimony muscles" like you talked about mom, and it will only get stronger. i love you all so much, and pray you all have a great week! be safe, loves~
~Sister Sara