satu minggu lagi di firdaus :P

well...haha, another week of highs and lows, and the work keeps pressing forward. things always start with the mornings...usually, if jo and i have good mornings where she gets up and studies and we have a plan for the day thats set, our day goes SOOOO good, and i'm always in a good mood. but those days where i end up doing my studying alone....i always have to work harder to be more patient, and not let satan get the best of me....and that's a glimpse into my life here in bandung :P
so sis christensen moved last wednesday, and i'm not gonna lie....i was scared to death about how things were going to be with me here alone, but it hasn't been too bad. the companionship hasn't changed at all, except they don't have chris to blame everything on....now it's on their own heads, fully. it's actually a lot better, actually...i guess now that i don't have a "friend" (haha) they notice when the 3 of them are having their own conversation, and they'll usually include me in somehow. so while conditions haven't really changed too much, at least they're taking more pity on me :P
ahhh! haha, i just looked at my planner and it reminded me about pak siregar last week....holy cow. he's SOOOO close to the truth, and yet SOOOOO far away! we discussed joseph smith for 3 HOURS!!! it was literally ridiculous, but he's my favorite investigator to discuss things with, cuz he has intellectual questions, and i get to learn from finding the answers; not to mention he's just fun to "discuss" things with, cuz i give him our beliefs, and then he says, "well that makes sense, but that's probably only because of this..." and then comes up with his own reasoning that DOENS'T make sense. like the 3 prophets mentioned in the New Testament in Acts...."well, they were obviously older than John the Baptist, and so they were prophets BEFORE him, but he was still the last NEW prophet before Christ was crucified." haha. seriously? he's just fun. and Joseph Smith is absolutely radical saying that ALL the churches were wrong....and how does he have the guts to say he saw God and Jesus Christ? yup....all fun questions that just make me happy to share the answers with him, and then a tiny bit frustrated when he just doesn't get it, especially because he's using his own reasoning instead of asking God directly (which we've told him i dunno HOW many times to do, not to mention reading the BofM....what is everyone's fear with a book? it's just a book! if you read it, it's not gonna kill you, especially if it really is the Word of God...which is most certainly is!). anywho...he's fun. mom and dad, i might let you meet him just for kicks when ya get here.
so this new English class i'm teaching 2 classes for at a university 2 times a week here is SOOOO fun. we did "news broadcasts" on monday, and they are seriously so hilarious and cute. i LOVE being able to really talk in english (with a nice campur...uh, mix of Indo in there as well). the best was when one of the kids said something about being tired, and i said, oh ya me too, and then he goes, "well let's just sleep together!" AAAAAAAAHAHHAHA i was almost on the floor crying! you have no idea....the culture is SOOO different from america, they're still so pure and that kinda stuff is NOT what usually goes on here, and so to this kid, that's just what he meant, you sleep and i sleep. but in the western world? haha, ya, so i told him to be REALLY careful and probably NEVER EVER say that to any bule he meets. but they're fun, and i'm getting new ideas to apply to the class to keep it fun and entertaining. hopefully it's working!
so we watched general conference this weekend, and WHEW! not gonna lie...the indo wasn't too difficult, but i still just don't get the full meaning outta the talks like i would if it was english. there were so many good talks it's hard to pick any one, but my fave line was elder oaks with his "texting is an addiction"...haha, ya i've used that the last few days with jo, and i've actually noticed her tone down a tiny bit with her texting...hopefully that keeps up. i also had all my questions answered that i had, so that always makes me happy and helps me move forward :)
so we followed up with Ibu Dina on the Plan of Salvation, and i dunno if we just taught it really bad or she just needed a week to digest it or what, but we basically gave the whole thing again... but this time she participated a lot more, and had questions and testimonies and all sorts of input on it, which was really cool. the hardest thing for her right now is that her family is Muslim... pak budi is her only child, plus all her grandkids, so she's scared they're not going to be saved, cuz they don't believe in Christ. she loves them so much, and i have a strong feeling that she likes meeting with us cuz it gives them a chance to see Christianity....better than them only seeing her go to and from church every sunday. i seriously love her so much, and i know she'd be such a strong member of the church, her faith is SOOO strong. but we also have to help the others, and their interest seems to be ever decreasing....so i dunno. i'm praying to know what to do...hopefully that inspiration will come.
as far as things go here, i'm doing TONS of service, but it's all in the middle of the day, so it's hard to get to appointments cuz they're far from the places i'm doing english and basketball at... but our potential investigator list is also decreasing. i dunno if i'm just becoming less and less effective here at contacting or what, but i haven't gotten much these last few weeks. i dunno, but i definitely see now the blessings that Heavenly Father gave us when we first got here, with absolutely NOTHING to start. but i'm also happy with this service, cuz it's fun and hopefully it'll help those we're serving want to learn...if not now, then at least in the future.
i know that this work is important, and that was confirmed by President Monson's call in the saturday morning session to every worthy member of the church to serve a mission. his testimony strengthened my own testimony that this is God's work, but he needs our help....we hafta be willing to do our part. i read a great talk by elder eyring in the january 2009 liahona about our role is sharing the gospel...absolutely inspirational! i just wish i could do more here in bandung....but so many factors apply with that. so i'm learning to be patient, and just pray that Heavenly Father will remember the intents of my heart later. but He will, cuz He's perfect like that.
anywho, i love you all so much, thanks again for the support, love, and prayers, you're all the best and i hope you have a great week!

~Sister Sara