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
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