19 November 2018

Why should I follow Jesus Christ?

This was a questions I was asked this past week: Why should I follow Jesus Christ? In the moment I gave a decent answer, which has led to much pondering on my part. Why should I follow Jesus Christ? And why should I invite others to follow him?

For the life of me I can’t find it, but this week I read a recent general conference talk in which an apostle relates his experience where he was asked a similar question by someone looking for trouble. In that moment he gave an answer, which also led him to reflection and pondering. He concluded that what Christ has done for us is truly great, and we can receive all that he wants to give us by faithfully keeping his commandments.

Jesus Christ, through his great sacrifice, known as the atonement, saved us all from death. Like him, we will all rise again from the grave, having perfect bodies. He also, in a way that we cannot understand, took upon himself the sins of the world and suffered every pain. He did this so that all who will follow him will be saved.

So why do we follow Jesus Christ? He has already returned to the Father. He knows the way. If we will follow him, he too will guide us back into the presence of the Father, where we can enjoy what he enjoys.

I know through the power of the Holy Ghost that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and Savior of the World. He will save us from our sins as we follow him. I pray that all of us can consider what we need to start or stop doing to follow Christ. I know that as we follow him, our burdens will be lightened and we will be strengthened to do whatever he requires of us.

Transfers:

Elder Suranto and I receive the dreaded transfer call. We will both be moving from Tangerang to Bogor. Bogor is located an hour south of Jakarta. It is known for raining a lot, being a tad bit cooler than normal Indonesian weather, and for having a strong church presence.

Questions:

Q:Is it common for extended families to live in the same house in Indonesia?

A: Yes, quite common in fact.

Pictures:

1. My English Class

2. One of the families in my ward along with other members and some people that Elder Suranto and I have been teaching.

12 November 2018

Falling in Love on the Mission:

I am not sure when the tradition began, but it has been common for missionaries to be told to ‘lock their hearts’ while serving a mission. By securely locking their hearts’, and perhaps by giving the key to their mothers’, it was hoped that missionaries would not fall in love on their missions.

What a terrible mistake. Any  missionary who doesn’t come home head over heels in love has missed one of the most important growing opportunities that come from full time service.

The gospel of Jesus Christ has been defined as “all the doctrines, principles, laws, ordinances, and covenants necessary for us to be exalted in the celestial kingdom.” (https://www.lds.org/topics/gospel). Missionaries are told that the lessons they teach “contain the essential doctrine, principles, and commandments that [they] are to study, believe, love, live, and teach” (Preach My Gospel 29). Missionaries are also told to love their companions, love the people they serve, and to love the members. And certainly Jesus’ command to “Love your enemies” is more applicable than ever before (Matthew 5:44).

For me, serving a mission has been an incredible opportunity to grow in my capacity to love others and see them as their Father in Heaven sees them; his children. I have also gained a profound love for the simplicity of the gospel, and its universal application in the lives of all of God’s children. Indeed it can be said that I have ‘fallen in love’ with the gospel of Jesus Christ, with the people that I serve, and the people I serve with. Still working on loving my enemies.

Water to Wine:

Something else on my mind this week has been the first miracle that Jesus performed, as recorded by the gospel writer John. Found in John 2, the miracle is one of the most remembered acts of Jesus, but also perhaps one of the least understood acts.

In turning water into wine, Jesus was showing that his power was a power capable to transform. In fact, he can turn water to wine, just as we can be turned from our natural desires into men and women of God.

An important aspect of this transformation is obedience. Mary told the servants at the wedding “Whatsoever [Jesus] saith unto you, do it” (John 2:5). A miracle, even as wonderful as the transforming of water to wine, will take place within each of us who will do everything Christ commands us. And what is it that Christ commands us to do? “Repent, all ye ends of the earth, and come unto me and be baptized in my name, that ye may be sanctified by the reception of the Holy Ghost, that ye may stand spotless before me at the last day” (3 Nephi 27:20).

Six Months to Six Pack:

This past week marks my last six months on the mission, which makes it seem only reasonable that my six month workout program will start. I have found that the mission is one of the best gyms available. Although there isn't a nice squat rack and barbell to train my body, the mission does include some of the best spiritual workout equipment on the market. In this aspect, I plan on coming home in my most spiritually strong state.

Questions:

Q:Have you learned much about politics in Indonesia?

A: Yes, but not too much. It is currently election season but being honest I don’t feel that things here are too politically charged.

Q:What is temple attendance like for the members in Indonesia?

A: By stake annual temple trips are planned for members who would other times have financial difficulty attending the temple. The trip normally has twenty people who go, and they attend the Manila Philippines temple. For the members who have the means to go the temple themselves, they often go to the Hong Kong Temple.

Picture of my district below.

Elder Allen.

5 November 2018

My Week:

Tuesday featured a mission meeting with two general authorities. The meeting lasted for 2.5 hours and I learned a lot. I am grateful even for the fact that I was in attendance. Because of the huge distance between cities in my mission, not all missionaries are afforded the opportunity to attend meetings where general authorities are present.

On the subject of serving in far away places, I read a talk this week given in 2006 by Richard G Scott. In his talk he gave the following observation “I have seen how missionaries who return from unusual assignments, such as adapting to the native culture of a Pacific Island, Mongolia, or the highlands of Guatemala or otherwise serving with minimal personal contact with the mission president, develop previously unknown personal capacities extremely well.” It has been interesting for me to reflect on the short time I have had in Indonesia and come to the realization that this has been true in my development.

Following the mission meeting, Elder Suranto and I traveled with missionaries heading to the city of Bandung; 3.5 hours away by train. In Bandung we went on exchanges with a companionship there. Although we didn’t have any teaching appointments that day, it was refreshing to spend an entire day walking in the city and talking to people.

Following Bandung, Elder Suranto and I went on exchanges in Jakarta, the capital city of Indonesia. This time we were with the assistants, and it was great to see how different the work is between Tangerang and Jakarta. There we ride in buses to travel from place to place, and talking to others seems really easy to do.

This week I have been blessed with a greater vision of the Holy Ghost. In word it is hard to describe, but I know that the

crucial role played by the Holy Ghost is essential in the gaining of a testimony, specifically a testimony of the truthfulness of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. Regardless of how small the confirmation is, or how long it takes to receive, it is nevertheless needed if we are ever to open our mouths and bear testimony by saying “I know this to be true.”

A confirmation of truth from the Holy Ghost comes by study and by faith. Rarely does it come in the secular means of comparison and examination. I hope that each of us can ponder upon the truth that has been taught to us by the Spirit and decide to learn more truth under his divine tutelage. By so doing we will become more powerful in resisting evil and standing for the right.

Questions:

Q: Have you learned any new skills or talents on your mission?

A: I have learned how to mop (pitiful on my part that I couldn’t mop before), massage, cook food like an Indonesian, enjoy using a squatter toilet, teach English as a foreign language (harder than I thought), and ride a bike (I knew how to before, but I am a pro now). I am wanting to learn how to cut hair because Indonesian barbers are pretty good, even at little shacks on the side of the road. I also want to learn how to sew because the tailors here are all pretty good, but we will see about that.

Q: What is your favorite Indonesian food?

A: Nasi Padang, Nasi Pecel, Martabak Manis, Roti Bakar, Jus Buah, Singkong Goreng

Elder Allen.

29 October 2018

My Week:

For whatever reason this week seemed to be a mix of frustrating and funny. Let me explain:

As a missionary making daily contact with each person being taught is crucial, especially in a place like Tangerang where many people have irregular work schedules. This week there were multiple days that despite our best efforts, daily contact could not be established with the people my companionship is teaching. Resulting was a decreased number in lessons, and poor follow up with people who are in the process of making big changes in their lives.

At one point I was so frustrated that I asked my companion “Why do these people even have phones (plural because in Indonesia it is common for one person to have more than one phone) if they don’t ever answer them?” Elder Suranto and I kept giving our best efforts and making the best of the situation.

Aside from being a bit frustrating, this week has also been funny. At the end of a lesson someone asked to take a photo with me. While Elder Suranto was taking the picture this person kept shouting “You have no skill. The picture doesn’t look good. Take another picture.” Not sure why this guy was so serious about having his picture taken with me, but it was really hard to keep a straight face while he was yelling nonsense.

While teaching English Class, I came to the realization that while most of the students could understand what I was speaking in English, they had no idea how to spell. In the spur of the moment I turned English Class into a spelling bee, grabbed a dictionary, and made the students write down words as I spelled them out.  What happened was a fun game where the word “gravitate” was spelled “jreiteti.”

Yesterday in Sacrament Meeting a new member gave a talk. What was supposed to be a five minute talk turned into a fifteen minute talk as this new member, who is 17 years old, told of how he spent 8 hours in a single day playing a video game and that he promises the ward that he won’t play video games again. Then he started talking about a dream he had, a natural disaster, more about his video games, and on again. A good half of the congregation was keeping down laughter during the talk.

My Week:

It has been a week since General Conference, and I am learning more and more from the messages presented. I invite everyone to continue to study the recent words of the modern prophets and learn from them. I know that God has spoken to us, and that he continues to speak to us through President Nelson.

Elder Allen

22 October 2018

My Week:

Monday

• Spent a lot of time cleaning the house. After getting it really clean, Elder Suranto and I packed up and headed to Bogor for companion exchanges there.

Tuesday

• I went on exchanges with Elder Montoya. He has been in Indonesia for seven weeks now but his Indonesian is already really good. I was impressed with how fast he has been able to learn the language. We worked hard that day.

Wednesday

• Travelled back to Tangerang and had District Council. Prepared some for a meeting on Thursday.
• Taught a member family. Really hoping that as we teach them they will feel the spirit and return to activity within the gospel.

Thursday

• Had a meeting with the President Mackay and the zone leaders from the other zones. We discussed that needs and challenges of the Indonesia Jakarta Mission, and set some good plans to help the work move forward.

Friday

• Worked out at the mission home.
• Had another awesome interview with President Mackay. We talked about the future of the zone. The Lord has some big plans.
• After arriving back in Tangerang, we taught an English class then ate dinner with a member family.

Saturday

• Found time to do some weekly planning. I know that without good planning I cannot do the most good.
• Teaching three lessons took up the rest of the day. Because of how big my area is, three or for lessons is really the most you can fit into one day. Much different than in Solo, where I could teach up to six or seven lessons in a day.
• Today was the most frustrating day of the week. We paid our electricity bill, and it was super expensive. Then one of the people we planned on teaching told us he would be 30 minutes late. That 30 minutes soon turned into 90 minutes. We met with him, but didn’t have time to teach what we had planned.
• There was a decent rain storm going on when we were teaching at our last appointment. We came home to find that a tree had fallen onto the front of our house and the floor was covered in water on the first and second floor. It took a lot of time to clean up but thankfully nothing was damaged.

Sunday

• I was really excited to meet with someone that I had contacted on the train two weeks ago, but at the last minute she cancelled. Disappointing as it was, we were still able to go out and find some cool people.

Questions:

Q: With Elder Suranto, your Indonesian companion, do you speak very much English?

A: Elder Suranto is very good speaking English. We have agreed to speak English on even dates and Indonesian on odd dates. For me, now that I have been in Indonesia for over a year, I feel about as comfortable speaking in Indonesian as I do in English.

Q: How do the members in Indonesia watch General Conference?

A: We watch it in the church building from a projector. It is translated live in Salt Lake City, and we watch it the week after. To be honest, most of the time the live translation isn't the best, although by the time it gets published in the Liahona it is good.

Pretty traditional Indonesian painting that I am standing in front of.

15 October 2018

My Last Two Weeks:

All has been well. Elder Nelson and I finished our time together in Tangerang. He had served here for six months and was a bit sad to leave. I have now been in Tangerang for a month now, but I feel that I don’t know my area all too well. After all, my current area is over ten times larger than the size of my past area in Solo.

My new companion is Elder Suranto, picture located below. He is from Jogja and has been on his mission for nine months. I feel that the two of us could end up spending a good amount of time together, which is something that I am excited for. It has been six months since I have last served with an Indonesian companion.

I won’t try and go into too much detail for these last two weeks. At this point it seems to hard to digest. When each day is filled with so many activities and so many new faces it can be difficult to recall all that has happened. I will say that my last two weeks have included the following: playing basketball on President Mackay’s birthday, exchanges to Bogor and Bandung, the best haircut of my life, teaching English class, sending humanitarian supplies to Palu, the city hit by a severe earthquake, and of course meeting the people God has prepared.

Spiritual Thought:

You reap what you sow.

Is that true? The answer is yes; sometimes. I taught and taught and taught while in my first area, Surabaya, and for all my effort, for all the sweaty days I spent finding, twice I had a people at church. While in Solo I prayed fervently for inspiration and vision on how I could better direct the missionaries serving in the province. The revelation did come, and no sooner did I begin to put it together did I leave Solo to serve in Tangerang.

Did I reap what I had sown? No. But was it sown? Yes. Although I was not there in person when it happened, three of the people that I had taught and found in Surabaya joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints through the ordinance of baptism and confirmation. And although I was not there to personally teach the missionaries in Central Java, the plan that my companion and I had created was taught to the missionaries and proved successful.

From these experience I have learned that it is not always meant for us to personally reap the rewards of everything that we sow. All of us do things in the now, expecting quick results, when we often forget that the thing we hope for will come later. What we need to do is give our best efforts in all things, and trust in the Lord’s promise that all things will work out for our good.

Pictures:

Sowing up bags of supplies to send to Palu.

An English class that I taught while on exchanges in Bogor.

A truck that I buy my fruit from.

Elder Suranto and I.

A common street vendor selling groceries.

Playing basketball

1 October 2018

My Week:

Everything was pretty good this week. I went on exchanges with another missionary  in my zone, Elder Eddington. He is currently serving in Bandung, which is a 5 hour train ride away. To be nice I bought fried rice for him and his companion. He threw up no less than five times. Our exchange still ended up being a success, as we found and taught new people.

Zone Conference was this Friday. It was shortened to one day; we all felt the power of what was being taught. I felt somewhat bad for President Mackay as he had to run in and out of our training to interview missionaries. My interview with him was great. The lessons that I have learned while on my mission are more valuable to me than any worldly possession that could be offered.

Questions:

Q: Do you have any rats in your apartment?

A: NO. Elder Nelson and I keep our apartment clean. No rats.

Q: Are you safe?

A: Yes.

24 September 2018

Funny Experience:

I had the ambition to make a barbell at my house. With the help of a member, I secured a long metal pipe, two buckets, and cement. The finished weight of the barbell was 150 lbs. I was really excited to work out with it.

The first day I used it happened to be leg day, so I put it across my back and started to squat. After finishing the first rep, the bar snapped across my back, and the cement buckets fell to the floor. Thankfully nothing was damaged other than the barbell and my future weight training. A picture of the broken barbell can be found below.

My Week:

On Wednesday I had a meeting with the stake president. It was a great opportunity for me to learn how I can help support the members here in their callings. It was also interesting to see the difference between the stake in Jakarta compared to the stake in Solo.

One of the harder parts of the week was when it rained. Elder Nelson and I were right about to go outside of the house when it started pouring down rain. With doubting for a moment we went back inside, put on our rain jackets, and started to head out. Just as we were going to leave the house, we got a text message saying that the person that we were going to go visit would not be able to make the appointment. That made it a lot harder to be as excited, but we left regardless.

One night on our way back to the house, I got my first flat tire in over a year. I have been very proud of how well my bike has been lasting. To fix the tire I walked my bike five minutes to the nearest auto shop where they patched the tube for 8,000 rupiah, or about $0.55 USD.

Something that has been on my mind recently is the importance of knowing what God has in plan for us. I used to tell myself, about the future, that if I truly put my mind to it I could become nearly whatever I wanted. Now I know that with work, we can become everything that God has planned for us.

One of the ways that God shows his love for us is through his plan. For each of his unique children, he has a unique plan. He has given us gifts and talents to help us achieve our divine destiny. He has given us scriptures, which tell us what we should do. He promises us the Holy Spirit, who shows us what things we should do. He speaks to us through prophets, who guide us to our Savior Jesus Christ.

Does God really have a plan for you? The clear answer is yes! I know that this is true. God will provide a way for all us, his children, to achieve what he has planned for us in this life. What is left to us is our capacity to work. Work is the means that we change, repent, and become more like God himself and his son Jesus Christ.

Questions:

Q: What are some new words that you learned this week?

A: ENTAH which means something like be it or whether it is. I also learned REMPONG which means picky or choosy.

Q: What did you do for service this week?

A: We had planned to teach english class at another institution, but at the last minute they cancelled on us. That doesn’t happen very often, but it meant that we didn’t have any planned service for the week.

Q: What is your apartment like?

A: A lot better than any of my previous ones. Elder Nelson and I keep it really clean, and it is just the right size for two people. There is space in the kitchen to cook food and work out, our study room is spacious, and our bedroom is small enough that it stays cold all night long.

Q: Is the cost of living in Jakarta comparable to other areas?

A: It is probably one of the more expensive cities to live in. Manado was also expensive though.