31 December 2018

I was asked this week to return to Manado. Manado is the christian majority city located on Sulawesi; I served there during April this year for one month. I will be there until I return to the states in May of 2019.

Thank you for the merry Christmas wish. I had a good Christmas day and am really excited for the new year. If you have any questions about Indonesia and what I am doing over here feel free to ask. I would love to hear from you.

Elder Allen

24 December 2018

I know that around this time most of us are more focused on the celebration of the season of Christmas rather than the reason behind why we celebrate this holiday. It is truly humbling to consider the birth of Christ from his perspective. In his premortal existence he was known as Jehova. By his word the world was created, and yet he submitted himself to the will of the Father and was born in meager circumstances. The great creator of the world was submitted to the disruptions of violence, and spent his childhood a refugee. In his adulthood the King of kings held a career considered prominent by none.

In his great revelatory vision, Nephi said of Christ “I looked, and beheld the Lamb of God, that he was taken by the people; yea, the Son of the everlasting God was judged of the world; and I saw and bear record. And I, Nephi, saw that he was lifted up upon the cross and slain for the sins of the world” (1 Nephi 11:32-33).

It amazes me to ponder on the significances of how low our Lord descend so that he could save us, a people so stubborn and wicked that we knew not our God when he came to us, but instead gave him to be crucified. I pray that each of us may grow in knowledge of our Savior so that when he does come again, that we may know him for who he is. For this to take place, it is not enough to simply know his name and say that we have faith. No, we need to have his name and his gospel deeply engraved upon our hearts. May we all give him the gift of our discipleship is my prayer.

Questions

Q: What is the average family size in Indonesia?

A: Two parents and two children. In a lot of neighborhoods in Indonesia they have signs that say “Two kids is enough,” although it was not always that way. Around two generations ago the saying was “banyak anak banyak rejeki” which means something like lots of kids gets you lots of wealth.

Q: How is Christmas celebrated in Indonesia?

A: It is important to know that Christmas is only celebrated by the minority of the population that is Christian. If you are not Christian, you do not celebrate Christmas. Christians here seem to celebrate Christmas by going to lots of parties. It gets the point that when we are trying to make appointments to visit the people we teach they tell us just to come sometime next year because they are busy going to Christmas parties.

Pictures

Elder Allen.

17 December 2018

Medan
Monday went by fast. Elder Suranto and I left Bogor and made the two hour and twenty minute flight to Medan, the farthest and also biggest district in the zone. Medan is located on the island of Sumatra. President Mackay, to help with missionary training, has begun sending zone leaders out to cities which previously had no visits to other than by the mission president himself. Elder Suranto and I took it as a big trust to go to Medan, and we made the most of it.

Medan’s more tribal Batak culture is very different compared to the Sundanese culture of Bogor. In Medan around half of the population is Christian, meaning foods like pork and dog are not hard to find. Needless to say, I ate well in Medan. I was very impressed with the food. In my two day visit to Medan I ate something new for every meal.

I did not go to Medan just to tour. I went there to train the missionaries. On Tuesday I went with Elder Putra, who I trained at the start of his mission. He is still doing well. We talked to a lot of people together. He and I still get along quite well.

On my second day in Medan, Wednesday, I split with Elder Hakes, the missionary that my own companion, Elder Suranto, trained. I really focused on the importance of studying the language ,and I helped him make plans for how to study the language. We learned a lot together, including a curse word that sounds very similar to “six o’clock.” So if you ever go to Medan make sure to be careful what you say when someone asks what time it is.

Other Stuff

The rest of the week went by like a blur. Something that I have been working on is really trying to increase my ability to speak powerfully in Indonesian. I think this past week I learned a total of one hundred new words or more, including words such as slander, widower, and a very rarely used word named “segan” which means something like hesitant and respectful. I was very excited to use it, and I looked for opportunities to use it all week. I only ended up saying it once though.

In addition to studying more words I also have began to do all of my scripture study in Indonesian. It has had a really big influence on me. If anything I really have begun to start thinking in Indonesian more.

I am really excited for this Christmas season. We have an amazing opportunity to share with others the love that we have. What better way to do we have to celebrate Christmas than by doing the very thing that Jesus did; serving others in a meaningful way? It is my prayer that all of us may look to those in our family and in our neighborhood and serve them in simple and loving ways, that the Savior may bestow upon us his love to share with them.

Elder Allen.

10 December 2018

Mission Tour

Elder Meurs and his wife of the Asia Area Presidency came to the mission to conduct our annual mission tour. I got to spend two days with them and with President and Sister Mackay. Zone Conference was on Tuesday in Jakarta; a leadership council was held on Friday in Surabaya.

I learned a lot about how to teach with the spirit, and I saw a big difference in the lessons that I taught this week.

People I Teach

This week Elder Suranto and I taught three wonderful people. The first is a college student looking for something better in his life. The second is father that we met on a public bus. The third is a refugee from Afghanistan. We invited each person to repent, and each of them accepted our invitation. It was a very unique experience to see how three people from three very different backgrounds have all found peace and joy from the same source: receiving the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Questions:

Q: What is your favorite experience on your mission?

A: Teaching someone how to pray for the first time in their life. I am always so humbled and filled with joy when I know that because of my service I have taught a child of God how to communicate with their Father in Heaven.

Q: What are your plans for Christmas?

A: I want to go to a local zoo with my district.

Q: What are some unique holiday traditions for Indonesians?

A: Fasting for a month straight. Sacrificing cows and goats.

3 December 2018

Hanya untuk Keluarga

Karena saya malas untuk kirim sepucuk email minggu ini saya cukup untuk mengirim beberapa kata saja. Tapi dalam bahasa indonesia ya. Maaf kalau belum paham.

Terus terang saya selama misi saya tidak selalu rajin untuk belajar bahasa, beralasan karena salah satu mantan presiden misi saya pernah katakan untuk gak usah belajar bahasa soal ngobrol dengan penutur asli setiap hari sudah cukup. Ternyata tidak. Semangat saya untuk belajar bahasa dengan tekun naik pekal ini. Saya merasa lancar sekali dalam bahasa indonesia namun saya tahu bahwa masih ada banyak untuk dipelajari. Salah satu kata baru yang saya belajar minggu ini adalah algojo. Itu artinya executioner. Jarang dipakai.

Minggu ini sangat menyenangkan bagi saya. Saya akan menjabarkan minggu saya dengan berikut:

Hari Senin: beli batik untuk bikin dasi baru. Poto akan menyusul.

Hari Selasa: melatih pemimpin distrik. Mencari jiwa.

Hari Rabu: jadwal padat. Saya mengajar kelas bahasa inggris dan sangat tidak suka.

Hari Kamis: petukaran rekan dengan Elder Call. Terus terang dia tidak mengajar saya begitu banyak dengan katanya, namun dia betul betul mengajar saya banyak dengan teladannya.

Hari Jumat: petukaran rekan dengan Elder Al-Rudhan. Dia asli Georgia juga tapi tinggal dua jam dari rumah kita. Dia mau pulang misi akhir bulan ini. Saya pikir bahwa dia akan menghadiri gereja dengan kita ketika saya pulang tahun depan.

Hari Sabtu: banyak tugas zona. Juga mengajar seseorang dan cari banyak jiwa.

Hari Minggu: naik bis satu jam ke Jakarta untuk konferensi pasak. Cari jiwa lagi.

here is the translation from google transalte:Only for families
Because I am lazy to send an e-mail this week I am enough to send just a few words. But in Indonesian Sorry if you don't understand.
 
Frankly, during my mission I was not always diligent in learning languages, reasoning because one of the former president of my mission had said to not have to learn a language about chatting with native speakers every day was enough. Apparently not. My passion for learning languages diligently rises to this point. I feel very well in Indonesian but I know that there is still a lot to learn. One of the new words I learned this week is the executioner. That means the executioner. Rarely used.
 
This week is very pleasant for me. I will describe my week with the following:
 
Monday: buy batik to make a new tie. Poto will follow.
 
Tuesday: train district leaders. Looking for soul.
 
Wednesday: busy schedule. I teach English classes and really don't like them.
 
Thursday: exchange partners with Elder Call. Frankly he didn't teach me so much with his words, but he really taught me a lot with his example.
 
Friday: exchange partners with Elder Al-Rudhan. He is native to Georgia too but lives two hours from our house. He wants to go home on a mission later this month. I thought that he would attend church with us when I go home next year.
 
Saturday: a lot of zone assignments. Also teaching someone and looking for a lot of souls.
 
Sunday: take an hour bus to Jakarta for stake conference. Find soul again.