This week's been pretty good in Jogja. It's Sister Antonio's last week this week in Jogja, she'll be transferred on Thrusday. I'll talk about that later. And now, the greatest news of all... (drum roll please) I'm going to be training a new missionary! Her name is Sister Xiaou. She's Chinese Indonesian but has lived in New Zealand for the last few years. I'l meet her on the 31st and she will be my responsibility for the next 3 months. I'm super excited, but I'm also a little bit nervous too. But it'll be a great experience. That means I'm going to be in Jogja for a total of 7 months, so the combined time of Jogja and the MTC will take up half of my mission. Wow, it's going to go by so fast! This week we also went on splits with the Sister Training Leaders from Jakarta. I was a little nervous that I wouldn't know what to do with all the time in the day, because we had already visited the investigators and members that we usually visit that week, but it all worked out. It was really fun to teach with the STL, too. I learned a lot from her. We ate dog meat this week! At a member house as we were eating dinner and then her son came in and served us dog meat. Ah! It tasted fine, just like meat with a lot of spices. But l I could think of was Eddy as I was eating it. Oh sad... This week we went to Sister Atin's house in Imogiri. It was about an hour bike ride away. Sister Atin always helps with the missionaries and always likes to feed us. She stays in a little apartment that's close to the church so that she can work, but her actual house is in Imogiri. We rode there and she took us on a little tour through the mountains. It was really cool! This is Sister Antonio and my reaction after President Donald called Sister Antonio about transfers. She's going to JAKARTA. hahaha. Jakarta's a hard city to work in and it's hot and big. I don't know anyone who has a big desire to work there. But, Sister Antonio's going to work in Jakarta for the next few months. haha. But really, she'll do great and make a difference in the lives in Jakarta. Good luck SIster Antonio! We went to Borobudur again today because the Sister Training Leaders wanted to go there. It's still beautiful but so so so hot. But ya, we have to go now, Mari!
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Well, it's officially been 4 months since I first set foot in Indonesia. Wow, does the time fly!
This week's nothing's been too special. Yesterday at church we had 5 investigators come to church. That's the most we've had since I've been here. Another great thing that happened, Merry was confirmed and received the Holy Ghost yesterday too. It was a great day. Sorry there's no pictures, my camera is broken and I have to go buy another one this week, oh sad... This week I've been pondering my purpose as a missionary. Why am I here? Why do go I work from sun-up to sundown in the heat and rain for 18 months of my life only to get rejected and hardly any results follow? Why do we as missionaries care, why do we keep moving forward no matter how hard it gets? It's because we care. We care about people, we care about God's work. We know we make a difference in our investigator's lives, even if we don't see it. We know amazing things happen when we leave after a lesson. We know that what we preach brings light and life, and we want to share the joy of the gospel to the world. Yes, it's hard... no, we often don't see the fruits of our labors... but of course, it's all worth it in the end. As Easter is coming, I invite all of you to ponder what role Jesus Christ has in your lives. Why does He even matter? As you think about the ways the Savior blesses your lives, I know you will gain a stronger testimony of Him and feel a brighter happiness in your lives. I invite you to reach Mosiah 14, a great testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ. Selamat Malam, semuanya! Hi everyone! This week's been a great, spectacular, awesome week. I'm so happy I'm here in Indonesia and that I can have all of these amazing experiences. This week, we saw a solar eclipse, saw our investigator's baptism, and saw ourselves as Indonesian brides... I'll explain that later... This is the best picture I could take of the solar eclipse. It was only a half eclipse, like a crescent moon but the sun... sorry, I've lost all my English skills. We could watch the eclipse through my x-ray, so that was cool. This was the first time I ever saw a solar eclipse. Yay! An unexpected first that came from my mission! This is MERRY!!! She's been our investigator for about the last 4 months and she got baptized this Sunday. She is the first baptism in Jogja in one year, so that's a big deal for the mission and for our ward. I'm so happy for her. She's the first person I've seen baptized on my mission and it's so cool to see how the gospel has changed her life for the better. I just know she's going to be so blessed because of her decision and I can't wait to see what happens next! Merry, right before being baptized. I like what she said in her testimony in the baptismal service, that she didn't have much faith in Christ before, but after meeting with the missionaries, she finally found and strengthened her faith. I know that this is the true gospel, and I know that Merry and everyone else on earth can and will find hope and strength as they come closer to Christ. We went to Sister Wuri's house today and got all fancied up like an Indonesian bride. It was the first time I really felt PRETTY on my mission. I'm so sweaty and hot, there's no use wearing makeup or fixing your hair nice, so it was really nice. I still have my makeup on, I don't want to take it off! I want to fell perty... but oh well, I'm not here to be pretty, I'm here to be sweaty and work hard. haha!
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AuthorHOLLEY STRINGHAM: Salt Lake City, born and raised; returned missionary from the Indonesia Jakarta Mission.; a simple folk aimed on changing the world Archives
October 2017
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