Ee....GROSS!!!!

ok, so this week has been pretty good, i feel a bit more productive, but can still certainly improve is several areas. I FOUND MY NEW PAK SIREGAR HERE IN MALANG! seriously....sooooo cool. his name is pak paulus, but i've already started calling him bro. paulus, cuz i know it's just a matter of time for the guy. he's so intellectual, he has such a view of whats wrong in organized religion, and yet still understands the need for it....and is just FUN! and he speaks like a preacher, which just adds to why i can compare him to pak siregar. they're just fun people, people like that who will listen to what we have to say and try to digest it. however, bro paulus has one thing that pak siregar never had...a desire to know for himself, and "switch the religion that has been passed down for generations by my forefathers" if what he finds is true. HAHA, so cool. so here's the story...sis rhondeau helped a family here get baptized right before she left, and she was working with several of that family's own siblings, and bro paulus is the brother of the wife of that family, sister peggy. so....there's already a good foundation for bro paulus with family who is newly on fire, and from what i've heard, has a SERIOUS testimony about this gospel that's amazing. i just wanna build on that, and help bro paulus' own family get that testimony and make the commitment themselves. it's my new goal with the time i have left here in malang. we're meeting tomorrow to talk about the priesthood, cuz he still doesn't understand how EVERYONE can have the priesthood, since with the catholic church, only the priests and/or workers have the right to that kinda stuff (especially stuff like the sacrament and forgiving and stuff....). so i've been preparing for that, and i've found TONS of answers in D&C84....thta's a FANTASTIC section, it's been a few years since i've read the whole thing myself. but anywho...it's gonna be fun with that family, i can already tell. tell sis rhondeau i'm gonna try to build on that foundation that she's left for me :) i know she'll be happy to hear that.

so....wanna hear the GROSS story for the week? cuz that's exactly what it is. so monday morning, i'm out pruning the bushes with my new shears that i bought on saturday, and i'm all cutting happy goin at these bushes, and i'm just standing there cutting, when the next thing i know, i'm falling....and then next thing i think is, crap...i just fell?!?!?! how did i fall? and as my mind is going over all this, i finally start thinking about what i've fallen in, and i think....wait, the bathroom is right behind me, this goes toward the street.....and THAT'S when i feel the water that my feet are in....but it's not JUST water. AND I KNOW THAT. so i jump out screaming my head off for sis lie (between yelling "gross, gross, GROSS" in between), she comes out and is like what, then sees my legs, and i tell her to grab the hose FAST, and she keeps asking questions, and FINALLY gets the hose from the back, and while she's gone, i'm dry heaving cuz i smell all the crap, and it's all over my legs, and i'm just totally grossed out and just want it all off of me, and so lie finally comes out with the hose and just hoses me all down.....until all the crap from that stupid sewer line area was washed off my legs. ew. it seriously was SOOO gross. then langi comes out, and the two of them start laughing their heads off, and i'm part laughing part crying, and after i finished cutting the bush up, i went in and showered about 5 times. with LOTS of soap. then....yup, i got mad at lie for not taking a pic of me, and i took a pic myself of my scratched up legs, the hole, and then filmed the hole as i retold the story. so it WILL live on. GROSS.

so its official...i'm gonna get fat in malang. its a good thing i'm only gonna be here for less than 3 months, cuz these members are CRAZY. friday night all us missionaries (elders included) went to a sister's house is THANK GOODNESS going to malaysia to work this week, cuz dang...she made tons of food, then told us that we had to eat it all before we went home. and she was serious. WE COULD NOT GO HOME UNTIL WE FINISHED IT ALL. the elders had prob 5 portions, i had 2, the others had 3, and there was still leftovers. so....haha, i went outside to stretch my stomach, and the chunky (haha, dad, you're gonna laugh at this...the "chumly" for sure) neighbor kid was in his window looking out at the crazy bule doing weird stretches in the front of his house...and i had the spirit whisper what needed to be done...so i asked the kid, he agreed, i went inside, and without the sister knowing, i took this kid a PACKED plate of food stuffed as much as it could handle, and you should've seen the kid...he was so excited! seriously, the happiest chumly i've ever seen, possibly. all he could say was, oh thank you, thank you soooooo much! you would've thought he hadn't eaten in months. however, elder meek thinks the kid is just used to getting food when the missionaries go to this sister's house....which may be right....i'm gonna hafta ask the other sisters about that. but it was hilarious.

the other appt wasn't as bad cuz we didn't HAVE to eat everything, but it was served in courses....like a little here, a little there, each time you thinking that it's over....that there's nothing left, so eat just A LITTLE more....but nope, then comes out the next course. luckily, we were pre-warned by the elders, and so we didn't eat too much that i felt like i was gonna throw up all night. but seriously...the members here are really great, and love to invite the missionaries over. tonight we're gonna celebrate a little christmas with a member, then have another invitation for later in the week, and it's just crazy...and not all the same people. in jakarta and bandung, it was always the same people, but here it's always different...so that's nice.

anywho...i'm about outta time, so i'll stop here. but i love you all, i know it's another christmas apart, but this christmas i'm not homesick at all (haha...cuz i know i'll be home in no time :P ), and just missing not being with you...but everything else is still good. it's the most wonderful time of the year, and i'm so grateful i get to spend in with the people of Indonesia. they've taught me so much about Christ....honestly, i've learned more about Christ from muslims here, i think, then i would've EVER thought. it's incredible how GOOD these people are. anywho...i love you all, have a very merry christmas family and friends that i won't talk to sunday, but to mom, dad, kel, zak, and ben....TALK TO YA LATA!

Loves,
~Sister Sara