Life in Solo is pretty great. It's a lot like Jogja but flatter and the area is so much smaller. Not much else to say about it. We don't have a large amount of investigators and there's a lot of work to be done here, but I'm excited to serve in Solo and strengthen the members here and find others to teach!
I can't upload any photos this week but that's ok. Next week there will be plenty. This week we visited a new family, a new member and not much else, but next week our schedule is filled! See you next week! Sister Stringham
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This is Pasar Condro, the market right by our house. We usually come here ever morning to buy fruit and breakfast. SOmetimes the Javanese drink lady makes me come over and have some of her concoctions. Not sure what exactly they are, but I'm not dead yet! Us and our most-awesome Monica. I aught her for the last time today but she's coming to Stake Conference! Woop! It's in just 2 weeks and she's just AMAZING! This is the guy fixing my flat tire. This was from a few weeks ago but the girl wearing blue will be my new companion and this was taken at the church I'm going to serve at. We will actually be serving in 2 wards, so we get t go to 6 hours worth of church every Sunday. Woop!
This week was a really great week. I've decided that the decision to go on a mission has been probably the greatest decision I have ever made. Maybe it was almost unbearably hard at the beginning, but I've finally found it to be one of the most rewarding things I have ever done. The people are absolutely amazing here. Their love and endurance amaze me every single day. The miracles just keep coming. No matter how things have gotten or how bad things might get later on, it will always be worth it. Nothing will be more awesome than these 18 months that I will be a missionary. I've fallen in love with Jogja, it is the coolest place ever and I'm going to be so sad when I get transferred (whenever that may be). Yeah, life's not perfect, definitely not easy, not even a bit, but I wouldn't rather be anywhere else. Thanks to everyone whose supported me these last 7 months, I miss you guys all so much and can't wait to see you in LESS THAN A YEAR! This is Sister Ingersoll, who was the Sister Training Leader when I first came to Indonesia. She went home in December but came back to Indonesia to visit. It was good to see her and see how far we've gone in the last few months. This is me and Mbak Monica. I met her on the bus and we hit it off from the very start. She's only a few weeks younger than I am and is going to college studying English. She's pretty much the coolest person ever. She came to church for the first time this Sunday and it's amazing to see how much the members helped her and already love her. She bore her testimony in Relief Society about how good she felt coming to church and how everyone welcomed her. I hope we can continue to teach her the gospel, she's so cool! For those of you wondering where Yekbar Vahl is. He is on my desk, chilling in a paperweight in the shape of one of the Buddha things at Borobudur temple. He doesn't get out much because I keep forgetting to put him in my bag. I'm also afraid of losing him. But wait a little longer, Yekbar Vahl will be making a return appearance here shortly. We went to the Christian bookstore today and saw 3 LDS pictures for sale. We thought it was kind of funny because a lot of Christian faiths here aren't the most friendly towards Mormons, but they apparently like our artwork. hehe. The far left one is actually one of the pictures on our pamphlets. hmmm.
I won't be emailing next week because it's SKYPE week with my family, but I'll hear from all you guys in 2 weeks ya. Saya mengasihi kalian. Tuhan memberkati. Sampai dua minggu. Jangan takut percaya saja. Sampai bertamu lagi. Sister Stringham Yesterday we helped one more person get baptized! Her name is Mbak Endang and she was a golden investigator. Sister Antonio and I met her maybe a month ago and she already wanted to get baptized! It was awesome and I'm so happy for her. It's amazing the difference the Gospel has made in her life. When we first met her she was really stressed and sad and weighed down with all the trials and problems in her life, but I've seen a change. Now she's really happy and excited for life. I love her so much! Elder Jeffery, a Senior missionary baptized her. She will be confirmed next Sunday. Yay! We also went to PLD this week. It will be the last one with President and Sister Donald. They are going home at the end of June. In PLD, all the missionaries in our zone have an interview with the President and the play futsal (indoor soccer). I must say I was one of the only sisters to score a goal. haha
On the next day the Assistants to the President gave a lesson and so did the Sister Training Leaders. Sister Donald gave us a lesson on Bike Safety and President Donald also addressed us and gave his last testimony. It was really good! This week I learned the importance of having a good attitude. I got a little lazy and tired from PLD and we didn't get in as many lessons as we could have. I also got a little bit of a cold so I wasn't much in the mood for working super duper hard. But, because Sister Xiao's still new and really excited about the work, she helped me remember my job here and to keep working hard, even if I wanted to take it a little slower this week. I also saw in Mbak Endang how the gospel changed her attitude and blessed her life for the better. I invite all of you to look at your attitudes in life and see if there is anything that can be better. Can you be more thankful in the little things, can you see miracles daily? Are you looking forward to each day in excitement and willing to work hard for success and happiness? Do you look for ways to serve your neighbour and in turn accept the help of others? Are you humble but also willing to stand up for what's right? Do you pick yourself up after a hard experience? I promise you all if we move forward in life with a good attitude and a hope for the future, life will be easier to handle, relationships with God and your fellow man will grow, lasting happiness will abound, and hope, love, and charity will flourish. I love you all and have a great week! Sister Stringham Yeah so that was my week. I don't have any time to write because we have to go meet an investigator right now, but we've just been working hard and eating chicken heads. See you next week!
Sister Stringham Hal semuanya! Apa kabar? Ini Sister Stringham di Jogja, dan saya sangat senang untuk email kalian hari ini. Minggu ini, say di misi ENAM BULAN, dan semangat sekali. Saya senang bangit di sini dan sangat bersukur kesempatan untuk menjadi misionaris. Bisa paham, ngakk? Hello everyone, Things are going great here in Jogja. As of Thursday I've been on my mission for 6 months and things are going great. Right now the work's going pretty slow, but we've got a few investigators that want to learn about our church and everyone's doing okay... just, not much is going on right now. But that's ok! As long as we're working hard everything is going to turn A-OK. This week we had a zone conference, where I'm not the youngest one anymore, woop-woop! This is all the sisters from Semarang, Solo, and Jogja. It was SO HOT! The rainy season is rearing to an end and that means the hot season is coming in. Yay! This is one of the views in Jogoyudan, a neighborhood in Jogja that we go to a lot. It's so cool! Okey, the absolute best food in Indonesia is ROTI BAKAR. It's like a grilled cheese but with fruit sauce or chocolate or cheese or peanuts, and on top of it, condensed milk. THE BEST FOOD I HAVE EVER TASTED.
This week I started my first week as a trainer. IT'S HARD. But I'm surviving, Sister Xiao's still alive (maybe) and all is well in Jogja. Nothing too much is going on right now. We are all happy and all sweaty and ya! This is the new district (minus Elder Shaner-I don't know where he went, plus Fajar in the back-one of the youth) Sister Antonio, Merry, and I at Tugu on Sister Antonio's last day here.She's officially in Jakarta now.
I wish there was more to say, besides beginning to train nothing's gone on. Semoga ada sesuatu yang hebat besok ya. 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!
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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