3 month mark and actually felt the ground shake

Selamat Pagi Keluarga! (Maybe not morning for you haha)‏

 

At a temple near Prambanan

Whoa! You have been so busy! I don't have much time at all this morning so I will try to make it short! ALEXCIA GETS BAPTIZED THIS WEEK! I get goose-bumps thinking about it. My first investigator that I have taught from the first contact until their baptism... and my first baptism! She said she has such a rough week (she was out of town) and I know Satan is opposing her since she is going to be such a great member! She already is a great missionary and always has referrals for us! I can't wait to see how her story ends.

This week was a little crazy with the STL Sister Nevis coming in to do exchanges and be Sis Baantjer's comp until Sis. Manulang gets back from the MTC. So basically I have had a different comp every day and today is going to be my first day with just sis Manalu. It also means that we have gotten lost every day that I have tried to "remember" the way to an investigator's house haha. I am terrible with names so I can't remember the name of the street or the members' name or anything so it is always an adventure!

Also this week was the biggest holiday in Indonesia to end Fasting Month (Christmas/new years too are big) so no one wanted to meet but there was NO ONE in the city! Everyone goes back home this weekend so the bigger cities empty. I felt like I was back in Utah the roads were so empty. Except the really touristy street Marlboro which had more bule's and tourists than ever! It was sooo coool to ride down the street and see fireworks everywhere and hear parades/chants. Didn't get any sleep but... just kidding, you know I can sleep through anything. ;) We went to the Winoto's house for a celebration and taught a lesson. They are such great missionaries for their family and we hope that we can teach them all. Funny story though. They have sugar cane crop (like the picks from a couple weeks ago) and so the grandpa of the family is this really old kind of mischievous guy and he is Muslim. He pulls out this sketchy looking old soda bottle and says that it is sugar cane juice so Elder pours me a little to try. But it was REALLY fizzy... yeah it was fermented! Elder Wired totally knew too! Ugh. And the day before that we accidentally started to eat what we thought was a chocolate pancake but it was mocha. So yeah broke the word of wisdom but don’t' worry, I repented. :)

We tried to find new investigators and one lady we taught was asking for our addresses in America and asked if she could come live with us after our mission so her son could go to school.... what? I was like maybe I heard that wrong. But she really did just invite the missionaries over to try to get a place to live for free in America! Hahahaha GILA! (crazy) We also taught a family who had a family living upstairs and they both were curious about what we were teaching but it is in the other sisters' area so we will see!

Last Thursday was my 3 month mark! And I felt an actual earthquake that day! We were just sitting in DDM and we all felt it! I thought someone had run into the wall that I was sitting next to. Sis Barnard says it was a 5.5 earthquake but nothing even fell off the piano so there wasn’t any damage outside either.

The whole zone at
Temple near Prambanan

Yesturday for P-day we went on a Zone trip to another old Hindu temple. I got to spend a whole P-day with Sister Jibson! We are so lucky to be in the same zone right now! We went to a more touristy temple called Prambanan and so there were tons of cheesy photo opportunities and of course lots of people asked for pictures with us. Then they all came to Jogja (about 40 minutes away from the ruins) to go to Malioboro and shop. It was funny that Sis Jibs and I just wanted to sit and talk but we are in this chaotic crowd so we bought a Mcflurry from the Mcdonalds at the mall and just wandered around. Just so you get an idea for prices. The tickets for all the Solo Missionaries to go home was 10,000 each, the same price as the Mcflurry which is a minified version of what you buy in America. But I tried Indonesia McD's for the first time!

Really touristy at Prambanan, but still got to love it.

Something really gross now. I washed my sheets and was going to rotate my mattress before I put them back on but when I picked up the mattress there was a dead mouse under my mattress! It was all decayed but still preserved somehow! Needless to say I slept on this mattress pad last night, HA! Amazing how my tolerance for some things like that is really high here. It didn't really phase me that we were at an investigator's house and I can feel a rat eating the seat cushion I'm sitting on. Only in Indonesia!

Temple, with a fancy setting on the camera

To answer your email:

Have you gotten my handwritten letters yet? What did you share about me in sacrament? Haha hopefully the good stuff right?

Andrew, Andrew, andrew. Patriarchal blessing recommend/baptizing Jacob... It will be his first baptism this week too! Haha and maybe almost at the same time with the time difference! Whoa I'm gonna cry! And everyone is getting ready for school. Fun to hear about their teachers too.

PS there actually is this ice cream man on a bike who drives past our house every day and I am a frequent customer haha. If you are willing to pay and maybe search around a while, then you can find just about ANYTHING here. I just found off-brand frosted corn flakes this week too!

All the technology and missionary work makes me so excited! But it will take a while before it gets here. President wanted to open Bali for missionaries since there is a branch there but the Area Pres. in Hong Kong said no since we are supposed to "grow from our centers of strength". 

The sisters at Prambanan and Elder Simnanunkalit

I am feeling more myself this week than ever before. It feels so good but I also wish that we were teaching every single person we pass on the street! SO many people who don't even know that God is their loving Heavenly Father.

Dad I hadn't really thought about the parable of the talents. I think I am going to study that today. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all of your mini messages. Tay-tay emailed me a scripture from D&C 33:8 about becoming like Nefi (Nephi) and I just thought about that a lot this week. He was always so positive and always did what the Lord asked, quietly being the example or publicly helping others see what the Lord's will was. I have always been so excited to meet him in heaven but this makes me more motivated to be like him now! I always carry the ensign with me so that on down time I can read. It has helped me feel more focused and keep my thoughts on the work even when we are traveling or waiting for an appointment. I LOVE THE BOOK OF MORMON! This week my testimony of its power has really increased just from my personal study and I am going to try even harder to share that. Pres. has asked us to walk around holding a Kitab Mormon and it has changed my perspective. I love Joseph Smith History 1:25 "I knew it and I knew God knew it. I could not deny it." That is how I feel this week. I know it! I am going to always live it so that people can know even without asking that I follow Jesus Christ.

I LOVE YOU ALL!

Happy birthday Samuel!!!! :) 10!!! Waduh anda sudah tua sekali! haha

Talk to you all soon! <3 Sis SHeff