1st Week in Manado

So just a heads up I only have 10 minutes left to send out my email so I will have to make it short. I will only be doing my Q&A this week. Also I won't be able to upload any pictures because it takes a very long time to upload. I am trying to attach 4 pictures and it is taking over half an hour. Hopefully next week the internet will be a little faster.

Q: How many missionaries are in your mission? How many of them are from Indonesia?

A: There are a little under 80 missionaries currently serving in the Jakarta Indonesia mission. Compare that to the 90 something that were here last year. And of the 80 missionaries here, about 40% of them are Indonesians.

Q: What is different between Manado and other areas you have served in?

A: Well Manado has a much more modern culture. Everyone here plays really loud music from their cars, and I recognize some of the songs.

Q: Were you scared to travel by yourself?

A: No, it was just weird not having a companion for so long.

Q: Is your house better than your last home?

A: It is about the same, although here my kitchen is outside. We also have two bathroom here, but only one of them has a working toilet. The bathroom with the working toilet also happens to be the bathroom without a light fixture. Using the bathroom at night can be fun sometimes.

Q: What is something you learned about the language in Indonesia this week?

A: I learned that all proper titles (ie. Mr., Mrs., Ms) are different here in Manado.

Q: What is something that made you laugh this week?

A: Hearing the Indonesian song "Itu Anjing Kecil," or "It's a small dog." The song is very interesting.

Photo from a meeting with mission President Pak Subandriyo and his wife Sister Subandriyo with Elders Rapp, Palmer, Allen, Sutadi, Elder/Sister Mongan, Sisters Inoke and Sindoro.

A view from of the roof tops of Manado.

Goodbyes & Hellos

Goodbye Malang. You taught me a lot. It was in Malang that I had my first two investigators baptized.

Goodbye Java. You taught me Indonesian. You taught me the culture.

Goodbye Elder Putra. You taught me patience. With you I trained for the first time, and got to lead us as a District Leader.

Hello Manado. I am really excited to serve all the people here. I am really excited to see the beach each and every day. Although I had to travel some 1400 miles by myself to get here, I know that I will never be left alone.

Hello Sulawesi. I have no idea what you have in store for me. I am moving from a 'cold' city, to one of your hottest cities (no parenthesis needed).

Hello Elder Sutadi. You are also from Solo, and you can speak English. I know I will learn a lot from you before you go home in three months.

Questions:

Q: How comfortable do you feel speaking Indonesian?

A: I will answer with another question: How comfortable do you feel driving your car. You probably feel comfortable driving under normal conditions, but under poor weather, racing, or extreme off-roading you probably wouldn't fair too well. And if your car broke down you would probably have to ask someone who knows a bit more than you for help. I feel the same with my Indonesian. I do good under normal circumstances, but there is still a lot of stuff that can through me off. I study a lot by reading from the Book of Mormon in Indonesia.

Q: Do you have any superstores like Walmart in Indonesia?

A: There is no one huge store in Indonesia that sells everything from home goods, to auto supplies, to fishing poles. Although we do have supermarkets, but they only sell food.

Q: How involved are members in missionary work?

A: It depends on the member, but most are pretty willing to help if we give them a good heads up, and it isn't too far from their house, and granted it doesn't rain. So ya, I guess fairly normal.

Q: What's the biggest change you've seen in yourself?

A: Loading........... I hope everyone else will be able to figure this one out when I get back home.

Family

Sometimes I find myself at the end of a week, not knowing what to write about. Mission life in Indonesia all seems so normal now. Sweating 24 hours a day. Eating lots of spicy food. Multiple trips to the bathroom. I love it.

Rather than tell everyone how my week has been, I would rather hear how everyone else's week has been. Send me an email or two and I will be sure and read it.

I was just looking through some of my photos, and I saw the pictures attached below. On my left are my Grandparents, Peg and Rudy Allen. On my right are my other Grandparents, John and Donna Power. From these four individuals came my two parents, and then myself. I am so greatful to have such a strong heritage. My grandparents and parents, in addition to many aunts, uncles, and cousins, have served missions, setting a clear example for dedicated lifelong service to the Lord.

I am greatful for all the lessons I have learned from my family. Whether is has been seeing my Aunts and Uncles serving in their calling, passing and blessing the sacrament with my cousins, or going to the temple with them, I have found myself surrounded by great examples. These examples come not just from the church and its appendages, but also from seeing the good lives of my family and friends who are not of this church.

Never have I thought that I could have been born into a better family. And while we do all have our weakness and imperfections, it is our togetherness that makes us family, and not a group of akward individuals.

I have made a committment to leave my family for two years, and serve in Indonesia. This is a committment that I intend on keeping. Indonesia can be trying at times; I certainly never thought that I would be expected to put up with all this and still exlaim "this is better than anything I had ever imagined!" But it is so true. In a misisonary publication I have read "You [the missionary] have a front row seat to the greatest miracle of all: the effect of Christ’s Atonement on individuals and families."

I testify of the reality of this miracle. Nothing changes our lives, our hearts, our desires, and our beings more than a love for Jesus Christ and a knowledge of his Atonement. I feel very blessed to be able to serve in Indonesia, and all the efforts from so many people that have made this dream a reality.

I don't have much time left to write, so I just want to close by saying thank you. Thank you to everyone who has loved me, and continues to do so. Thank you for always being there, and for all of your prayers. Keep on being awesome, and lift where you stand.

Sincerely,

Elder Justin Allen

A Big Thanks

Before I begin I just want to give a big thanks to everyone who has been emailing me. Keep up the great work so this kid in Indonesia still has some people to talk with.

Monday: After emailing I went shopping, but got bored pretty quick. Played tennis near my house, but then it started raining. At night I taught an investigator who never finished elementary school.

Tuesday: Companionship exchanges with Elder Zebua. We visited a lady who is 110 years old, making her older than the country of Indonesia, which will celebrate its 73 year of independence this year.

Wednesday: Taught my awesome investigator, Mas Dasrial, who has a baptismal commitment for the 24th of March. My companion taught piano lessons to a member, then we ate at a different member's house.

Thursday: The first day of zone conference began. We role played teaching a lesson by using the hymn book and singing a song. Then I got to meet my new mission president for the first time. He is from Indonesia, but can speak English.

Friday: The second day of zone conference. I learned a lot from my new mission president, and the nutritionist he invited to speak to us. For zone conference all the missionaries wore matching ties and skirts, all thanks to your truly.

Saturday: Back to Malang with a busy schedule. Helped a member pack up his house, move, then unpack into his new house. We ate with him, had a meeting with our branch mission leader, then played volleyball at the church with members and some investigators.

Sunday: At church two members gave their mission farewell talks, making it a total of three missionaries currently serving from the Malang branch, with two more to follow. Ended the week by eating at a member's house.

Questions:

Q: How is your church schedule in Indonesia different than in the States?

A: It is the same. But, in Indonesia there is no mid week activities for the youth. Seminary and Institute meet once a week on Saturday night.

Q: What kind of activities do you do on preparation day?

A: Email, hair cuts, cleaning the home, buying food for the week, and shopping. Still can't go to the beach yet. It's killing me.

Q: Have you ever dreamed in Indonesian?

A: I dream in the location of Indonesia, but its 50/50 whether the language used is Indonesian or English. Most of the time I feel more comfortable speaking Indonesian rather than English, but I still think, read, and write in English.

Birthday Week

This week I had my birthday, so now I am 19 years old. All feels the same though. For my birthday I took my companionship out to dunkin donuts, where we ate some nice American donuts filled with Indonesian fruits.

Not quite sure what to write about this week, so I will just attach some pictures and let them talk for themselves. 

But, one pictures does need some explaining. This is the picture titled "Woman Bule." I think I met Indonesian's most infamous womanizer this week. He is actually a former investigator, and has come to church around 20 some times. This week as I was pulling out of parking lot, his car, named Woman Bule, pulled up next to me. He drives a nice 20+ year old pickup truck with two large speakers in the back, the words "Woman Bule" on all sides, and pictures of him with Sister Missionaries in the cab. In case you have forgotten, Bule is the Indonesian word for white person. Needless to say, I was about to die of laughter after I was this car.

Questions:

Q: How is Elder Putra's English coming along?

A: Not as good as my Indonesian. We recently decided to use English every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday when we talk to one another. On Wednesday we use Javanese.

Q: What kind of souvenirs do most missionaries bring home from Indonesia?

A: Batik, which is a type of pattern either hand painted or printed onto fabric. This is what almost all of my ties are made from. Some missionaries also bring home traditional Javanese knives that are supposed to have spirits inside of them. I don't believe it.

Q: Are the people in Indonesia watching the winter Olympics?

A: I didn't even know the winter olympics were going on.

Q: How bad are the bugs?

A: In Malang, because it is colder, they aren't too bad. I rarely see any bugs. Surabaya; however, is another story. The mosquitoes were terrible, and there were always cockroaches in the house. We don't use bug spray, but we do use a type of bug extinguisher spray in the bedroom before we sleep to kill all bugs that might be in the room.

"Overpowered with joy" - Alma 19:14

Nothing better describes how I felt this Saturday night than the scriptures quote found above. It was my great joy to see Sister Prisca baptized and confirmed as a member of the true and living Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Or in Indonesian, Gereja Yesus Kristus Dari Orang Orang Suci Zaman Akhir.

Sister Prisca is great. I typically don't like sharing a lot of personal information about my investigators until they are more progressive, and I figure that after her baptism it would be fine to tell you a little bit about her.

Sister Prisca moved back home from Bali after feeling a strong impression she needed to return to her family. She left behind her employment and friends to start a new life in Malang. She didn't want to resume attendance at her old church, so she went online seeing what churches there were in Malang. She found lds.org and came to church by herself, wanting a copy of the Book of Mormon. I gladly gave her one, and set an appointment to teach her. In the month I have known her, she has greatly impressed and inspired me. Through difficulties known to her, she has found the time to prayerfully read the entire Book of Mormon in fewer than 30 days.

I feel even as Ammon, as recorded in Alma 26:11-12: "I do not boast in my own strength, nor in my own wisdom; but behold, my joy is full, yea, my heart is brim with joy, and I will rejoice in my God. Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever."

In other news, after emergency transferring missionaries on more than one occasion, President Rowley, the mission president over all of Indonesia, was emergency transferred to the Singapore mission. I still don't know much about the situation, but I will surely miss President Rowley and his wife Sister Rowley. They will be replaced by a former mission president, President Subandrio, until a more permanent president will come later this year.

Questions:

Q: How many times a day do you eat rice?

A: It depends on how many times I want to eat.

Q: Have you ever taught lessons on the street?

A: Yes. The environment is less than ideal, and I always try and find a more spiritually conducive place to teach.

Q: How do you do most of your contacting?

A: Go into a neighborhood, and ask anyone and everyone who they know that is either interested in learning about Jesus Christ, or is already christian. We do have to be a little careful though, so as not to give others the feeling that we are here to Christianize or change their religion. 

Q: Do you ever ride in cars?

A: Not unless I am going somewhere I can't go on a bike. For example, traveling to Surabaya for zone conference.