Week 9

Indonesia is keeping me on my toes. On Saturday the 16th my companion's bike was stolen. We have gone a week without a bike, and boy is it hard. Walking to church yesterday took a half hour. I am so grateful for any form of transportation other than walking. We walk everywhere now, and we don't even live in our own area!

This week my companion and I worked harder than ever, and we were blessed for it. We finally have a few investigators who we really see big potential in. I am so excited to teach these people and help them come to know their Savior Jesus Christ.

My testimony continues to grow every single day. This week we had zone conference, which is when missionaries serving in other cities all travel to one location to hear from our mission leadership. I was impressed the most by two senior couples who both bore their testimonies on temples. Temples are a sacred holy place where members of the church can participate in saving ordinances for themselves and for the dead. Here in Indonesia the members sacrifice so much to go to the temple once in their lives. I love these people so much, and I want to be able to work my hardest to bring a temple to them.

Funny experience real quick. White privilege is so real here in Indonesia. The people are just so fascinated with white people, or what they call Bules. Well this Sunday in church I was sitting with a new investigator, and halfway through sacrament meeting he decided that he wanted a picture of me. So he leans over, pulls out his phone, and starts taking several close up photos of my face. It was very awkward, and I asked him to wait until after church to take pictures. That stopped him for about ten minutes before he started taking more pictures of me. This cycle continued on until the end of the first hour of church. Thankfully the meeting was almost over, so he wasn't disturbing others for too long.

Attached are pictures of myself on splits riding a bike (finally), and my companion and I with one of our investigator's sons:

It's been too long

Sorry I haven't sent out an email in a while. Just been really busy recently. 

These past weeks the missionary work in my mission has been improving. My area has remained the same, but I know that as I am working hard, others are blessed. It can be disappointing to work as hard as we do and go weeks without progressing investigators, but I love the people here so much and I am confident that there are people eagerly waiting to hear the message of the restoration.

My adjustment to missionary life has been great. I haven't felt homesick and I have a great companion to help and support me. I have been blessed to have the strength of the Lord on my side as I serve him in Indonesia. To receive this strength, all we need to do is lean unto the Lord, and trust in him. Sometimes we falsely believe that we can make it on our own, and he will push us just a little harder than we can manage until we give into his will and open our hearts to him. 

I like Alma 37:44-45, which says:

44 For behold, it is as easy to give heed to the word of Christ, which will point to you a straight course to eternal bliss, as it was for our fathers to give heed to this compass, which would point unto them a straight course to the promised land.

45 And now I say, is there not a type in this thing? For just as surely as this director did bring our fathers, by following its course, to the promised land, shall the words of Christ, if we follow their course, carry us beyond this vale of sorrow into a far better land of promise.

I add my testimony that following the words of Christ will give us the strength we need to choose the right during our seasons of trials. As we press forward and look forward with our faith in Jesus, we will be carried into a land of promise. Christ himself will carry us there. All that is asked of us to to be obedient to his words. I hope that we can all take the time to reflect upon our own lives and ask ourselves if we are being obedient to the words of Christ. If there is anything that needs fixed, fix it immediately and allow Jesus to come and bless you as he takes you to a far better place.

Attached is a picture of a restaurant that I ate at two weeks back:

Mission Life

In my emails I have yet to write about any of my investigators. When I first came to my area, my trainer was fairly new to the area himself. He had served there for two weeks, then when my visa was delayed he was moved to a different area of the same city until I came. The teaching pool we had consisted of investigators found my missionaries who have long since left the area. We have cut just about all of them, with the exception of two who seem to have some potential.

Recently we have really been focusing on finding new people. Because of this we teach the first lesson a lot. My Indonesian is definitely the strongest in the first lesson. And in ordering food. We try and find families and the rising generation, but we often get stuck with old people because they are the only ones home during the day. It is a real struggle to get them to follow through with our commitments. They are always willing to have us come and teach, but they won't do much else. Out of fear of offending, oftentimes people will continue to take the lessons, when in their minds they are not interested at all. It is very important for us as missionaries to know who has good intents and who is wasting our time.

Each day I wake up at 6:10, and normally start working out around 6:25. My workout lasts until 7:00. I use the next hour to shower, change, eat, and prepare for the day. From 8-9 is personal study, and 9-10 is companion study. At 10:00 we leave the home and start proselyting. We will normally target a few areas and check up on our investigators. We eat lunch and dinner on the road. We are back home by 8:30. We do training for new missionaries, then plan out the next day. After that the time is up to us. I normally will do some extra study for a half hour, shower, then just unwind until bedtime at 10:30. Each day we probably bike for at least an hour.

Attached are pictures of a meal I recently ate, the best watermelon I ever ate (and it was yellow!), and a drink called "Es Tebu." I am not quite sure what that translates into. It is made from a juice that is extracted from sugar canes. There will be someone on the side of the road with a table and a big pile of sugar canes. They have a machine they feed the sugar canes through that grinds them up, and out comes the juice. They just add ice to it and pour it into a bag. It is really good. We can buy four bags of it for 10,000 rupiah, which is less than a dollar.