getting the window seat on airplanes!
Letter arrived July 14, 2014
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| Headed off to Medan! Woot Woot! |
Well this week feels like it flew by! (haha not even trying for that play on words there)
We were in Jogja for almost 4 of the days and so we only had the weekend to work in our area but surprisingly we got a lot done! I love those weeks when we go to total up what we did and me and Sis. Allred are like "hey! That’s not too bad!" what a blessing from Heavenly Father to be able to have only a few days in our area but still be able to find some people to teach!
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| Playing in the rain after church |
Monday we had the most amazing FHE with the Lucherini's
(humanitarian mission couple) and Ibu Lely. Her english is much better than I
realized and the Lucherini's and Ibu Lely have gotten quite close lately. We
had the appointment for 5:30 and it's not very far away but at about 3 o clock
it started to POUR and then FLOOD and plus it was time for everyone to get off
work and race home to end their fast! So every single taxi in the entire city
was being used and with all our laundry and things, there was not a chance we
could walk or take a regular bus. We tried for 2 hours to get a taxi and after
sitting in the rain for all that time. We decided just to leave our stuff at
the mission home and walk. Of course as soon we get going a random taxi comes
by but by this time it is already 5 and we are in standstill traffic. But
miracle of miracles and we made it by 6!
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| Broken down $3 shoes |
My 35,000 rupiah shoes were literally
in pieces after the first day. I think they made it with water soluable glue.
Anyways after a hectic trip, Ibu Lely also finally made it there and we enjoyed
apricot chicken and fruit cake! The lesson we shared was from this month's Liahona.
Have you read the article by Elder Gong? He is our area president and actually
told us about this article when he came and visited last year because he based
it on us. Look at the footnotes for our miniscule shout out haha.
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But after such a frustrating ride over in the traffic,
it felt like just the thing I needed to read that talk. Why do I have to be
such a perfectionist sometimes? Sheesh! It's a gift and a curse. I especially
loved the first and last parts of the talk. And then when I was reading in
D&C 88 (verse 124) I decided to make a goal to "cease to find fault".
In myself, in others, in the work, in whatever! I also feel like I need to be a
better person when it comes to serving, and stop thinking so much of myself all
the time. After all I only have 18 months where I literally have no
school/work/family/friends/life to worry about! Just serving the Lord. That's
all I need to do :) Sis. Allred goes home in a month with about a 4th
of our mission as well! Soooo its a huge move. I have to keep reminding myself
that I'm not one of the ones going home next month as well because it feels
like we're building up to something seriously big...
But anyways READ THE TALK! It is so awesome for anyone, any
religion, any age.
OH! Before I forget... I haven't sent you your Indonesian words
of the week like, ever! Here are a few random fun words
sebentar (seh-ben-tar)= just a minute
gereja (ge-ray-ja)= church
jangan (jahn-gahn) = don't! Haha or even vetter "jangan
dong!" = don't dude!
koki (coke-y)= chef
berjemur (berr-jeh-moor) = go tanning :)
kacamata (kah-chah-ma-ta) = eyeglasses (literally haha)
Tuesday we had some time to work on the mission t-shirt (any
ideas for the design?) and facebook proselyting before we left for the
airport.
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| Sad lives of some of the people of Jakarta |
Wednesday I went on exchanges with Sis Toegono and it was in my
old area of Jogja! SOOO fun but sooo different too! I loved running into old
friends; the guy who always filled our bike tires, the lady who sells water, an
inactive member and *drumroll please* Pak Widanarto! They never visit him
anymore because he wasn't really progressing and I think he still hasn't opened
his heart enough to recieve it. But I really liked getting to see all the NEW
investigators too. They are working hard!
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| Taking a Becak in Medan with our suitcases and all |
Thursday I was with Sister Olsen (she came to my farewell
remember?) and we had one really cool experience. I was just telling her that I
never once in Jogja met someone and then langsung [(long-sue-ng)= right away]
taught them in their house. When bam! We met someone and they told us to come
in and teach. But when we sat down, a neighbor walks in and asks if we can
teach her family first instead, then come back... uh yeah! SO we go to teach
the other family and it was one of my favorite times teaching the restoration.
It just made sense when we explained it and by the end, one of the family
members goes "can I have a copy of the Book of Mormon?" . That night
I ate at Pecel Lele again! And then we played futsol after english and then Sister
Reilly taguht me 3 chords on her guitar and it was just a great time in Jogja
:) Oh Sis Reilly and I also played legit tennis for our workout both
mornings... ahhhh I miss it soooooooooooo much!
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| Futsol with the Jogja sisters |
Friday- funny story! So we had to leave for the airport at about
4 so we set our alarm for like 3:15 but then in the middle of the night we all
wake up and SIs Wihanda is saying "Sister! Someone turned off our
electricity and they're pounding at the door!" WHAT?! scary! Then as we
are all in a half-awake daze someone says "maybe its the taxi
driver?" sure enough... it was already 4:15 and he had been waiting so
long that he went and got security to turn of our electricity to try and get
our attention. So we rolled our of bed, into a skirt and took off but still
made it to the airport with plenty of time. Just no sleep, no shower and we
looked pretty worn out haha. But we had a cool lesson in D.D.M., met with 2 new
investigators, found a new investigator on facebook and then had a good english
class.
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| Eating Durian... nasty stuff |
Saturday we were running out of ideas so we did a lot of
proselyting and met some really cool people! We ended up crashing a reunion of
4 former exchange students who went to Arizona and 2 of them used to live with Mormons!
How cool is that?! Also I tried on a $4,000 watch while proselyting. Jakarta
malls are INSANE! haha I was trying to act all rich but the whole time thinking
"don't breathe on the watch, don't breathe on the watch." Thank
goodness I didn't ask to try on the solid gold watch! (like $30,000! Whewww)
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| This is... like the Icon of Jakarta, Haha |
Sunday we had a greattttt day at church! Tante Bella came back!
Liz, an RM from Utah, doing an internship here, came! Then we went and visited
a new member, Heny, at the hospital and met some fantastic people all
throughout the day. I gave a Book of Mormon to one girl I met on the bus and
when I went to save her number in our phone, turns out we already had it! Small
miracles that make me realize what a hand heavenly father has in this
work!
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| At the hospital with Heny |
Today is SIster Suryani's last day! We have her farewell dinner
later tonight. This morning we talked to Ibu Lely on the phone- she got
released from her old calling in her other church in the choir! Now she has
time to come to our church! YEAHHH! And then another investigator called and
said she got sick and couldn't go to Bali! YEAHHH she can come to church now!!!
Haha the Lord works in mysterious ways.
One spiritual thought for the week from Sister Lucherini,
"Church does not save us. Prayer does not save us. Tithing does not save
us. What saves us is Christ. But by going to church, saying
prayers, reading the scriptures, paying our tithing etc. we come unto Christ.
When we come closer to him then we can be saved." I love that and think
that if all members and investigators understood that, they would be much more
obedient and excited to follow all the commandments. :)
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| INDONESIA |
We have a goal of finding, teaching and baptizing 4 people in
the next month... FAITH! Haha maybe we are crazy but hey it COULD happen! So
basically we need to find a family of four THIS WEEK! And give them a commitment
for the beginning of August.... I have NEVER taught an investigator family
before in my entire mission. Like a mom and dad and kids... NEVER! SO I am
praying and so excited to finally find, teach and baptize a family! IT'S GONNA
HAPPEN AND GONNA BE SO AMAZING!
I loved hearing about trek! I think you guys are rock-stars.
Sounds like this might have been tougher than the last ward trek! Now you can
sleep right?
Haha but really, I am so grateful for our family. Mom and Dad...
thank you for how you have raised us. Whatever you did, you did it so well (if
I do say so myself haha teasing!) I am so excited for all the boys to serve
their missions. The Sheffield's do hard things. You boys are going to make
AWESOME missionaries someday! And did you hear? All the missionaries are going
to start using ipad mini's by next year.... whoaaaa that is going to be so
crazy cool.
Give everyone a hug for me! I hope you are having a tan, fun,
spiritual, exciting but restful summer.
Sampai nanti!
Kasih selalu,
Sister Sheff <3
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| My MTC group getting their Kita's |
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| Nais Kuning and Es Campur... party food |
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| My one year mark in Indonesia Celebration Dinner |
Arrived July 6 2014
I love you more than....
Muslims love ending their fast! Selamat
bulan puasa semuanya!
I love living in a Muslim country! Sister Allred and I
have way too much fun noticing all the things that happen "only in
Indonesia".
Funny story! But first some background. For fasting
month, the Muslim people eat like a ton of food at 4 am then don't eat/drink
again until 5:57 at night. It is illegal/inpolite to eat food in the open and
even restaurants have curtains covering their windows (or they just close haha).
Oh also they say "buka" or open your fast is at the end of the fast
(easy to get confused but just think of like opening your mouth is opening your
fast). So anywayssss the other day Sister Allred and I were on Busway and it was
almost 6 pm. You're not allowed to eat or drink on the Busway anyways but we
were talking to a few people when the driver all the sudden turns on the radio.
It was a commercial for this sports drink called Pocari Sweat and there were
people who looked obviously very very thirsty. Torture right?! Well then the
door attendant and the driver start announcing "TO ALL THOSE FASTING: IT
IS NOW TIME TO OPEN (end) YOUR FAST!" I kid you not, everyone starts
opening their bags and pulling out waterbottles and snacks and eating as much
as possible as quickly as possible. There was a symphony rattling wrappers and
bags. I felt left out! Haha in fact it made ME get thirsty too! But we
should've been paying more attention to those not eating since that
would've helped us figure out who to talk to. I LIVE IN A MUSLIM COUNTRY! I
LOVE INDONESIA! :)
That being said, I am so proud to be an American! Give
me anyone and put them in a foreign country over the 4th of July and they will
turn into the most patriotic, american-flag-sock-wearing,
national-anthem-singing American citizen ever. We happened to have a zone
meeting that day and this mission has been increasingly bule. Our zone only has
a handful of Indonesians which means that we sang American songs for the opener
and we ate at Burger King and Cold Stone (I KNOW RIGHT?!) and yes almost
everyone was wearing red, white and blue... except the Australians... those
darn Aussies! But it was such a good meeting. We made a lot of goals for these
next 6 weeks since there are 10/26 missionaries in our zone going home! Elder
Barrus gave us all a good peptalk about how only the Lord and you will know how
hard you worked on your mission. You will be blessed in proportion to how
consecrated you were in the mission. We also talked about making goals to
stretch yourself. We have some high goals, Sister Allred and I, for her last
few weeks.
Here I insert my heartfelt comment about Sister Allred
so that you know that I'm just teasing about the other stuff: She is seriously
such an amazing missionary. I feel so bad that she has to have me for her last
few weeks because I am no where near as humble, willing, kind and loving as she
is. I just pray that she can be patient with me and the Lord will be patient
with me and still bless Sister Allred with the last few weeks she deserves,
even with me as her companion.
Let's see... what else happened?
Remember last week we had a rough week with lessons?
Well Monday night last week we had already met and taught Vita again, and
talked with Isti again! The update with Lely... she is doing soooo well! We had
a small fireside again last night with President (I sang a duet with E. Blaser)
and Lely and Vita came and loved it. We have a FHE with Ibu Lely later tonight
with Elder and Sister Lucherini and we are all so excited! Keep praying for her
progress... she needs to get baptized already!
Vita has been doing so great this week. Today she is
interviewing for a new job so we hope she will be able to find a job that lets
her come to church! I think having facebook has helped her alot too.
Isti has been hard to talk to since she is always busy
or something but guess what... she stopped smoking! Without us even telling her
to! We met with her on Tuesday and she said that ever since she met us
missionaries, she felt like she needed to stop smoking and drinking and now it
had been two weeks and she was still holding strong! She is such a golden,
miraculous, prepared person. Just hard that we basically only meet her twice
ever and she couldn't come to church or the fireside.
MLC was this week! President made it official...
INDONESIA IS THE BEST MISSION IN THE WHOLE WORLD! Some new and exciting things:
1. we have a facebook proselyting thing now. It's hard to find the time to get
online but we are hoping it will get us connected to people we would never have
met otherwise. 2. we are going to start baptizing on Saturday and confirming on
Sunday which NEVER happens here, so that was a shake up. 3. missionaries now
teach lessons 1-5 before baptism... also a first. President focused a lot on
the mission motto againnnn and I felt like he was talking just to me the whole
time.
Obedience is the Price= D&C 130:20-21
Faith is the Power= Moroni 7:33 and Matt. 17:20
Work is the commitment= D&C 4:1-4
Love is the motive= John 14:15, 15:9-14
The Spirit is the Key= D&C 50:13-14,16-22
Christ is the Reason= 3 Ne. 27:13-16
One more Contact= D&C 75:2-5, Moroni 9:6
We are going to Jogja this week for exchanges! I feel
like I haven't been back in foreverrrrrr so that will be way good! I am too
excited. Sadly it will be short time there but will take up a lot of our week.
We will have to be on the ball with our remaining time.
That's about it!
Mom: I've been trying to think about what I would like
the Allred's to bring and I'm at a loss! Honestly I would love a pot roast,
roast potatoes, a loaf of homemade bread and angel food cake. Umm but maybe
some black hair elastics (not head bands like last time, sorry!) or a pair of
capris (like jean capris) or just something that smells like home? I don't really
remember what there even is in America anymore! Sister Allred is worse, she
asks me maybe 10 times a day, "do we have this in America too?" Also,
how are your family missionary efforts going with a few certain cousins of
mine?
Dad: thanks for the Doctorly advice. I think about you
all the time did you know that? I am becoming an avid taxi-rider and
airplane-flyer but I just picture you flying all over the world. I want to go
on a foreign adventure with you someday ok? No call backs! I always try to picture
what you would be like in Indonesia getting around on your own and stuff...
What is your next planned trip? Maybe it IS Indonesia! HahaHA! I am so excited
to hear about trek! You have always been so good at church history and helping
us learn our heritage, I think this is a perfect fit (and you wear a button
down shirt everyday so it all works!) I will be praying for you all a lot this
week! And I hear you are the pro boat driver these days.
Andrew: How did school end up? BTW If you're not taking
AP Gov next year you are so in trouble! I thought you were teaching swimming
alone, is that still right? I heard you're going on a date with Samantha this
week, have fun :)
Joshua: How about Freshman year? Is BYU going to be
happy with your classes? Did you already start counting your service hours and
keeping a resume?! YOU ARE GOING TO BE A SOPHOMORE! AHHHH! How is tennis?
Samuel: Has the Lego Movie already come out? Because
guess what... I've seen it! IT IS SOOOOO FUNNY! "Everything is awesome!
Everything is cool..." I thought of you the entire time! I know you will
love it! Did you have fun 4-wheeling too?
Jacob: How is swimming this year? Are you already in the
top level? Did you try skiing again this year?
I LOVE YOU ALL! This email is monstrous but hope it's
not too bad! Keep reading your scriptures and having FHE even during the summer
:) You will be so glad you did!
Give everyone a hug for me!
<3 Sister Sheff
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