I love you more than....

Trees! And waterfalls! And mountains! 

 

WAHHHH! I LOVE IT HERE!

I'm going to answer questions first today :)

This week was so fast! I think that's because we had such a fun week! We were laughing every second. Sister Fisher is such a delight and I've loved having her here! This new district is so much fun :) today we went to a waterfall and an old Hindu temple for P-day... it was the best! 

The "Sisters"
We are in a threesome until I become a trainer - and we love it

Sister Fisher is so similar to me and we are having to hardest time sleeping because we just want to talk all night long. She loves Indonesia and is sooooooooooo willing and brave to try anything and do anything. 

With some of the beloved members of the Banjarsari Ward

The other day Sis Manurung and I were riding bikes behind her and started to laugh because here is Sis. Fish. who has no clue where she is going but went right to the front and just started riding like she has been here for months. But we keep forgetting to tell her when to turn and that has made for some funny stories. She is from Pleasant Grove and has been a member her whole life but in the last few years really made the decision to be a way strong member and go on a mission. She brings such good ideas and is helping us get out of our teaching rut. Her language is good! She still has a hard time understanding people but she is already getting better.

Sis. Fisher brought this shirt... she was destined to be in our companionship!

Having 1 new and 1 kinda newer missionary is SUCH a blessing for the work! We contact like crazy! We comitted 2 more people to be baptized this week! Kartika and Reza are SO ready to be baptized this week and we are seeing Mbah improve sooooooo much. I am not ready to go but I will start being sister trainer on the 24th of March. 

Mbah's newest grandson (the girl we committed to baptism this week)

I'm sorry this email was so lame! but here is one last funny story before I go...

Did you know Jesus Christ was Javanese? I just found out. HAHHAA so we went to an inactive's house for our appointment but he didn't show up. We were talking to his dad instead and his dad informed us of that detail I must have forgotten to read about in the Bible hahahhaa. There is a city in central Java called Kudus (holy) so that is where Christ was born. OH! And Adam and Eve are Javanese too he explained, because the oldest city in the world is in Central Java. We (the elders too) were laughing SOOO hard and this guy just was such a crack up. We also have a Muslim stalker. And we found 3 potential investigators! I can't tell you all the stories and miracles and you know how much I like to talk. I wish I could explain EVERYTHING but I will someday. For now just now that...

THIS CHURCH ROCKS! I LOVE IT!

Out of the city and into the fields

I hope that you will get better Mom. I love you so much. You are my best friend. I got your letters this week and I loved them SO much! Remember to be patient with yourself and don't get sick ya? Cepat sembuh ya? Saudara-saudaraku... kalian hebat! Dan terlalu keren! Saya selalu senang dengar dari anda semua. It sounds like you are all busy, successful, and happy. I hope you are making every day better than the last. That is the true meaning of perfection.

Kasih ke bulan dan kembali!

<3 Sista Sheff

 

7:30 am and ready to main-main (Indonesian for play)

Candi Sukuh

3 generations
(mission family tree - I trained Sis. Manurung and she is training  Sis. Fisher)

P.S. So I got an email from a girl asking about the Indo-Jak mission. She got "called" there for her seminary missionary week and asked a little bit about it. I thought I would include what I responded just to give you an idea of my thoughts of the mission and a little bit of advice for: 

Hey! I know your missionary week is probably long gone but I thought I would respond all the same. I am LOVING my mission. I remember the first week in the field thinking "why did no one tell me that this was going to be hard? Like get me out of here kind of hard" and yet that feeling was just what I needed to learn how to tough it out while relying on the Lord. The first lesson I learned in the mission was about prayer and I seem to learn more about prayer every week. 

Indonesia is a very unique mission because it is one of the only majority muslim countries that the church has missionaries in. That also makes the work much slower than in other missions per-say  But you know what? IT IS THE GREATEST MISSION! I don't have baptisms every week and finding investigators is freaking hard and there are only a few members and even fewer missionaries but this mission is full of miracles. And love. Members know every member and missionary in the whole country. Transfers usually mean taking a plane ride somewhere exotic and you are luckily almost always with a native Indonesian mission companion.

I think to get ready, make sure you know the doctrine like the basics. Restoration, Plan of Salvation and 5 parts of The Gospel of Jesus Christ. But honestly you learn all that kind of information stuff on the mission. I say to get ready for your mission, fall in love with the church! Like head over heels! I don't know why, but before my mission I skipped the Saturday morning general conference sessions to go to a soccer game and I didn't really care about the latest mormon message and my scripture study was perfectly average. I had a really strong testimony even then, but on my mission I have learned that I love this church. There will be days when you are going to have to listen to someone tell you that your church is of the devil and they are going to try to bash you and make you get upset. But if you are in love with the church... nothing else matters! You know! You know the truth! So read the ensign every month. Study a question from the scriptures "just because". Watch the latest bible video. Fall in love with your church! You are SO blessed to have the ONLY true and living church with Christ's name and authority and answers to any question. 

I think you will be surprised with your mission. Nothing will prepare you for the emotional/spiritual strain. But it is the greatest time-out from the world. What a blessing to focus on your testimony and serving others for 18 months. It is the funniest, most adventurous, most inspiring, craziest, hardest and focused time of my life. 

Saya tahu ini benar. Saya semangat untuk anda melayani satu hari nanti! Sebenarnya, dunia ini lebih baik ketika ada lebih banyak sister misi ya? :) Maju terus!

Kasih selalu,

~Sister Sheffield

I hope that you guys (Andrew, Joshua, Samuel, Jacob and the future mission couple Mom and Dad) are learning how to prepare for your missions from my mission. It takes some getting used to and I hope you can all be better missionaries than I am! Hurrah for Israel! :)

~Sister Emily Adelaide Sheffield