terbakar....dan sakit sekali.

ok, so this computer is a little slow, and won't bring up all the
email addresses of people i usually send this to, so this is only
going to the 2 that i have memorized.... mom & dad and kel...please
forward to everyone else who i usually send it to. thanks!
this week was slow, but sunday was awesome! i'm not going to
lie...without teaching every day, i'm having a hard time keeping my
spirits really up in the "missionary mode" like they need to be. it's
a lot easier to feel hopeless, and like no one wants to listen to you
here in bandung than i ever experienced in jakarta. but all of these
experiences i know are for my benefit, and mostly to see how i'll
react to them...hopefully i'm reacting the way God wants :)
last week we were rejected by 2 contacts we had...1 referral and one
that we'd met ourselves (the daughter came out and told us that the
family had already found Christ, so they didn't need us). not gonna
lie....we don't get much of that directness from indonesians usually,
so we tried to laugh about it, and just move on...but both times, we
weren't as effective contacting people afterwards. lol...i'm used to
the cold shoulder or not answering the phone when people reject us. oh
well. haha, i guess that's me getting the door slammed in my face the
Indonesian way, ya? haha.
anyways, so sunday was totally awesome, and made me feel SOOO much
better about myself. we visited Ibu Dina and her family, who took care
of me while i was sick a few weeks ago, and it seriously was amazing
how things happened so that they got the message that they needed. ibu
dina is christian, but her son, Budi, switched to islam when he got
married. BUT he's never grasped onto islam cuz he really doesn't
believe it, but his wife and kids are very active. as we started the
plan of salvation (i figured it was a better topic cuz of the muslim
influence in the home), i used a scripture from the BofM, so then i
had to explain about the BofM, and both ibu dina and pak budi's
attention went right to that...and we switched to the restoration
discussion. ibu dina is a sweetheart, and i think would believe
anything and everything we'd say, but pak budi was the most
interesting for me to watch because he understood EVERYTHING we talked
about, and commented on almost all of it...the need for a prophet
today, the need for the BofM as proof that Joseph Smith was called of
God, etc....seriously, soooo cool! and then he was the first one to
agree to pray about Joseph Smith and the BofM that night. as she
walked us out to the angkot, ibu dina explained a bit about pak
budi...apparently his wife (who actually sat in on most of the lesson,
but didn't comment) doesn't mind if he becomes christian again...just
as long as he has some sort of religion that he's active in, and ibu
dina said she's prayed for years that he'd find Christ again, and told
me that maybe this is a church that can interest him in searching
again. man alive....I WANT HIM TO SO BAD! this family really is
incredible....SOOO good, and quick to give everything they have, while
maybe what they have isn't a ton. we're going back this sunday, and
i'm REALLY hoping they've read the BofM and prayed!
we finally met with Ibu Tugina on monday, and she was really quiet
again...like the kind of quiet where i almost feel like she doesn't
want us there, but after we read a chapter out of the BofM together
(which i really think she enjoyed...), we had a good conversation
about her daughter who is Muslim now because of the guy she married,
and how she prays every day that her daughter will find Christ again.
i'm really finding here in Indonesia, the christians and muslims have
such a fear of their family switching religions...which is why most of
them are so strong in whatever religion they are. but ibu Tugina
opened up a lot more towards the end, and invited us back next
week...so hopefully she keeps on warming up to us and we can help her
build her faith and find Christ thru the BofM.
yesterday we had a fireside, or family night, at the church, and it
was PACKED! it was so awesome to see people come who don't normally
show up, and Pres santoso gave an interesting lesson on music...and
singing 'benar"...how to say that in english....singing with real
intent, maybe? not just saying the words, but FEELING the words. it
was something i'd never really thought too much about, but it was
really good, and today when we sang before comp study and weekly
planning, i tried to apply that, and it's interesting how much more
the words mean to you when you actually THINK about what you're
singing. and that's my food for thought for this week :)
well, that's about all the happenings this week...i love you all, and
thank Heavenly Father for the support he's given me back home. i've
been blessed more than i deserve, thats for sure. have a good week,
loves!
~Sister Sara