Life is too short to not have the Pure Love of Christ

This week was insane, we had a tragic loss in our Ward.  Our friend Brother Denny suddenly passed away ):  (He's the one who introduced Kirei into the church and Baptized her ))': )  

So with going to funerals this week and trying to cope with everything,  my testimony of the Plan of Salvation was strengthened again.   When my sweet Grandmommy passed away, of course I was sad,  but she lived an amazing life and she was 97! we were expecting it ya?  With Brother Denny he was my friend!  I've only been in Bogor for 3.5 months, but the members here have literally become my family and I cherish all of the relationships I've built. 

So Sister Davis and I really had to study hard this week to prepare ourselves to help Kirei, we knew she'd have even more questions about the spirit world and what is going to come in the future.   I've grown such an appreciation of the Plan of Salvation.  I know we have a loving Father in Heaven, and I know He wants us all to return to Him, and if we just follow His perfect Son and rely on the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ we can. 

This week is PLD, so I'm excited to go to Jakarta again,  I'm excited to learn from our President and find some answers to my prayers, so next weeek's email will probably be more spiritual.

I have one cool story, we were contacting on the train (because all of our appointments failed again -____-' )  I love talking to people, especially now that I can understand indonesians soooo much better than before, i'm not afraid to talk to people anymore! The gift of Tongues is real yall.   so i was talking to this lady,  and she was asking what are message is about, so i whipped out my Kitab Mormon,  Sister Davis is soooooo good at explaining the Book of Mormon, i still get nervous and confused on how to say '' JUST READ IT ITS GOOD AND YOU'LL BE SAVED" in indonesian (;   but i had a prayer in my heart that Heavenly Father would bless me with strength to explain it well enough that she could understand what i was saying.   after my little prayer all of a sudden i received strength to bare testimony of the fulness of the gospel contained in both the book of Mormon and bible, and by reading both we can receive a full witness that Jesus is the Christ and that he is the Savior of the World.  it was really cool, so now i'm not afraid to give away book of Mormons.  we gave away 6 this week!  Hopefully those 6 people will be interested and want to learn more.  

and then with our investigators,  Kristin..... we invited her to be baptized AGAIN.  the answer is still "oh i need to learn more"  BUT WE'VE LIKE TAUGHT HER EVERYTHING UGGHHHH i don't know what to do hahahah.  I know if she just reads the book of mormon and prays about it, she'll feel that burning bosom in her heart!!! 

Sorry this email is so short.  I'm not quite sure what else to say.   This church is true yall, if it wasn't i wouldn't be here!  Heavenly Father loves you, He loves you!  So keep trying your best and keep relying on the Savior for help and guidance in your life, you'll be happier i promise! (:

OH YAH and the title of my email, this is another thing that I learned from Brother Denny's passing.  Life is just WAY TOO SHORT!    Why not be nice to everyone you see, try to befriend a person that's lonely, try to be patient with those you don't get along with.  Life is too short to not have the pure love of Christ embedded in your soul!  I know it's hard sometime to love everyone,  but if we pray with all the energy of our souls to Heavenly Father for help, he will soften our hearts,  pray for opportunities to serve others!  The more we strive to become like Christ, the Happier we'll be!  I know that's true! ​​

okay okay have a nice week yall! (:

WHOA!

I'M LITERALLY OUT OF TIME BUT A MIRACLE JUST HAPPENED LIKE 3 SECONDS AGO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FANA (AN INVESTIGATOR WHOS BEEN KINDA SKETCHY AND WE HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO MEET WITH HER)  BUT SHE TOLD SISTER MAYA (HER FRIEND) THAT SHE WANTS TO GET BAPTIZED I'M SO HAPPY I'M FREAKING OUT WE JUST GOT THE PHONE CALL MIRACLES HAPPEN WHEN YOU WORK HARD WOHOOO!!! THE CHURCH IS TRUE!!!!!!!!!!!!

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1)  i woke up to this view today!!

2) i've started drawing again so I drew this for my favorite Indonesian here, Tessa, she's so cute (':

3)  In Memory of Brother Denny (Me, Bro Denny and his sister love love love to sing together (:  )  (and sorry i'm not cute and in my pajamas i had just woken up hahaha) NOTE FROM MOM-THIS IS THE ABOVE VIDEO THAT I CAN'T GET TO WORK.  I LEFT THE LINK IN CASE SOMEONE ELSE CAN.

Indonesia: It's beautiful

Kabarnya keluarga dan teman saya!  Minggu ini biasa, tetapi masih hebat sekali!

We have 3 simpatisan's (investigators)  who have so much potential!  Ibu Kristin,  Ibu Wice and Ibu Rosita,  I'm always so so excited to meet with them and teach them!  We just have to get them to church... hopefully this week that will happen!! (:

Today I wanted to talk about some amazing and crazy things about this beautiful country of Indonesia.  One day while Sister Davis and I were riding a big old rachet bus,  out to the middle of nowhere to meet with a member,  a sweet spirit came over me, and I really took the time to appreciate where I am serving!  Indonesia is so so so so SO beautiful, it's so green everywhere you go!  Even though I was on a raggedy bus, surrounded by a bunch of smokers and it was hot and i was sweaty,  I could'nt've been happier!  

1.  We ride in these little mini van things called angkots,  here in Bogor their green and blue, and everyday there are these guys called  Pengamen,  ranging from ages 7-30,  they jump in the angkots while we're driving and they sing for us!  it's so funny, especially if they try to sing english songs,  they use Ukelele's (the strings are usually made from rubber bands)  it's so funny, but it's cute, so i usually give the really good ones or the cute little kids my little indonesian coins!  (hopefully i'll get a picture of them one day)

2. Random Bapak,  for some bizarre reason, this week we had like 3 random older guys come up to us and speak broken english with us!! it's so funny, usually while were walking down the streets we always get cat calls,  everyone calls us "mister" they say "HEY MISS HEY MISS MISTER MISTER"  They don't know the difference of miss and mister and it's so funny!  Lots of people try to say a random english sentence to us, the funniest is "my name is"  with their indonesian accents, and then... they don't tell us their names! 😂 it's so hilarious, because they don't understand what they're even saying.  Oh i love indonesians.  and with the random guys that came up to us, we got there numbers and one of them became the elder's new investigator so THAT was awesome.  

I can't even explain how beautiful Indoneisa is,  at least here in bogor,  we have one mountain, i forgot the name (it's really like a hill compared to utah's mountains)  but its so pretty,  everyday we walk down really terribly made streets made of concreate and stones.  to get to our house we have to walk up a huge hill every night so that's fun. 

This week hopefully we'll be able to see Ibu Kristin Rosita and Wice a bunch,   the more i find people and teach, the more i feel like I"m improving. I still need to work on my bahasa so i can teach better, but i know the lord makes up the difference always!  

Oh ya quick spiritual thought,  I forgot where I read this from, but from my studies this week my goal was to make my prayers more sincere and to really try to become more humble.  The Lord commands us to be like little children right?  to submit our whole will to our father in heaven ya?  It's so hard!!  But i've noticed a difference in the way i think, when I walk in face and LIVE in faith, I know everything will work out, I try to have the spirit guide my prayers,  and i think of what Heavenly father wants ME to do, not what i want Him to bless me with.  He already knows what we need right?  But if we try to humble ourselves more and pray for others first before us He'll bless us even more.  I challege you guys to pray just a prayer of thanks for a day or 2,  I promise you'll start to see a difference in your life, you'll become more full of gratitude, it will make your life so much more happier!  I'm glad I'm here, and I love being a missionary.  Have a nice week yall! (:

1) Sister Davis and I went to Kebun Raya (it's this wayy fancy awesome park in Bogor) for PDay last week!  today we're going to another park with the elders and playing cards I'M SO EXCITED 

2) I was feeling myself that day, the fro was fab.

3) just look how green everything is

4) Hi i love being a missionary 

5) Me and cute Sister Davis (LOL look how sweaty we are #IndonesiaJakartaMission)

6)  yes i found Naruto manga here in Indonesia, NO I'M NOT READING THEM DONG, but i'm saving them for when i get home and can read NARUTO in INDONESIAN I LOVE MY LIFE AHAHA

What do we do now?

HALO KELUARGA DAN TEMAN YANG TERKASIH SAYAAA<3

okay.  well.  I don't have a lot to say this week.  This was the SLOWEST. week. i have ever. had.  on my mission holy cow.  I was so pumped to get the week started and like, everyday... EVERY. SINGLE. APPOINTMENT. CANCLED. !!!!!!!!!!  this has never happpened to me before!!! I was so stressed!!!!!!!!  

So we did see Ibu Kristin again, she's so cute, and she has this way nasty dog that stinks named Oni.  We tried to invite her to be baptized........ lol.   She likes the Book of Mormon, and she even invited her friend to come learn with us (ayyyeee another simpatisan!!)  and we read from 3 Nephi 11 (she's already been taught the Restoration)  and the spirit was so strong!!!  We asked her if she believed the book of Mormon was the word of God?  She said yes,  we asked her if she believed if Joseph smith was a true prophet, she said yes.  SO HELLO, DO YOU WANT TO GET BAPTIZED???  "Oh, I'm already baptized in my own church, our churches are the same right?"  YA AMPUN.  It's so hard to explain to people about Priesthood authority... so hopefully this next week we can clarify.... cuz let me tell ya, it got real awkward after that hahahah.  Wahdu.   I think i've already shared this quote ,  "If the Church wasn't true, the missionaries would have messed things up a LOONNNG time ago."  This quote always helps me feel sooo much better! because i'm not the perfect teacher, I still need to learn more bahasa, and missionary work is so hard!!!!  But it's the LORD'S work, so it just keeps going and He makes up the difference! Thank goodness the Book of Mormon is true, thank goodness the Holy Ghost really does bring conversion because without it,  theres no way I could do this haha!  

I guess something a little dramatic happened too haha.  So, yes, my emails are full of butterflies and rainbows and how wonderful everything is kan?  Well, I'm gonna be real for just a second.   I love love looove being a missionary, I'm learning so much about myself, and for God's love for me, but I'm still human, I still make mistakes and I still feel emotions ya?   This week,  was a really really REALLY hard week.  I've never had so much anxiety before my mission, (I mean, i'm in charge of the eternal salvation of this beautiful city, not much to stress about right? (; )  and also,  at times,  I still get really homesick,  and I've been having these crazy moments of depression, where i'm just so so sad!  and then I get frustrated with myself because '''I'M A MISSIONARY I HAVE TO BE HAPPY AND PERFECT AND GINI GINI GINI"  but no, I don't have to be perfect,  I'm still a human being.  Sister Davis and I one night had a heart to heart and just cried together!  We were missing home and feeling hopeless because nothing was working out!!  3 of my simpatisan's have been baptized!  Shouldn't i be happy??  I seriously thought there was something wrong with me!  I literally felt like I was turning into a robot, waking up in the mornings was dreadful, I wasn't happy to go out!  and I couldn't wait to go back to bed.  I felt like we were trying to force lessons to happen and just visit people just to visit people.  I had no idea what Heavenly Father wanted me to do because nothing was working out!!  It was this never ending cycle and I didn't know what to do.  

So, one companion study, Sister DAvis and I read Alma 8 .  Alma was having great success in his "area"  he brought thousands of souls unto Christ, and then "transfers" happened and he had to go to Ammonihah (i think)  there he was spit on and beat upon and all these terrible things happened to him!!!  He was so depressed too, because nothing was working out!  It says in verse 14: that being weighed down with sorrow, wading through much tribulation and anguish of soul because of the wickedness of the people"  Hey,  that kinda sounds like EXACTLY how i was feeling!  But and angel came to Alma,  he told Alma he was blessed for his faithfulness in keeping the commandments and commanded him to return.   Alma had no idea if things would get better of if they would turn out.  He then met Amulek,  got to know him and got some food and water.  Alma then testified of his call as a missionary and the two of them became great missionaries together!

When I read the words from the Book of Mormon at that time,  I recieved an answer to my prayers.  I felt exactly like Alma, I felt so hopeless and so depressed,  but I don't ever need to feel that way!  God listens to my prayers, and everything happens for a reason,  maybe allllllll of the lessons and appointments we had canceled because we had to meet someone on the train, or at the park, or at the mall who was ready to receieve the gospel!  And we did! We contacted so many more people this week and we have 3 more investigators.   I hope you all can learn from your experiences too, if you keep praying for guidance I know you can find the answers in the Book of Mormon. I feel so much better about myself as a missionary.  I know I'm not perfect and I know sometimes things don't work out,  but I know God knows what's best for me at whatever time and place here in Indonesia, and i know he does the same thing for all of you in your lives.  Trust in Him,  pray everyday, read your scriptures and ponder them,  I promise there are scritpure stories in the Book of Mormon that you can relate to your life!  I know the Book of Mormon is true, and I know sometimes life can be so hard, but as we're faithful in following Jesus Christ everything will work out whether or not we realize it!  God loves you,  you are important, and all He asks of us is to try our best everyday!! 

I hope my mopey story turned out to be more spiritual and happy ahah, I'm so glad I'm here in Indonesia, and I'm so glad to be serving the Lord at this time in my life! Have a good week!

1)  MY WARD IS THE BEST THANKS FOR THE PACKAGES!!

The work continues

HALO TEMAN DAN KELUARGA SAYA!!!!  This week was AWESOME, LUAR BIASA.

So,  ya know a few weeks ago i was like, woooow the work is so slowwww, BUT THIS WEEK, we had 3 NEW INVESTIGATORS!!!  What a miracle!!!!  

So the first lady we met her 2 weeks ago, we were trying to search for some refferals that a member gave to us so we went on 2 adventures that day,  we found out the refferals weren't even living in bogor, BUT we met Adriena!!  Shes' like.... maybe 50 and she has ALLLLL this kids living in her house like grand kids and all there cousins they'r'e so cute,  we "How to begin teaching" with her (basically like, telling her our purpose as missionaries,) and introduced the Book of Mormon to her.  ( ya konw how like, everyone in america knows a thing or two about the book of mormon, and it's usuually not a good thing right?)  WELL ITS LIKE THAT HERE TO ESPECIALLY if they're Christian.  So i always get so scared when we're about to teach about the Kitab Mormon (indonesian) cuz i don't know if they'll freak out and say  '' THERES ONLY ONE WORD OF GOD GINI GINI GINI, YOUR BOOK IS SESAT (kinda translated like cult) "  bc the Christians here, (we call em Fish)  ((remember Jesus said to his apostles, "I'll make you fishers of men"))  GET IT LOL,  anyways,  if they're fish, they're usually SO DEDICATED TO THEIR PENDETA's  (preachers)  the struggle is real..... BUT SHE WAS SO OPEN, it was so nice,  and all of the kids gathered around me so i showed them the pictures in the front of the book and i did my best to explain them all while Sister Davis was talking with Adriana,  it was a good lesson and i know that Kitab Mormon is literally the key to a simpatisan's conversion!!  

Then there was Ibu Sri, shes so cute, the elders met her on the train and we ended up being in her area!  Her 2 daughters were there too, and she's fish.  (we have code names for the different religions here so we don't offended anyone while we're talking..... )  anyways, here daughters were there too, and we did the same thing, HTBT and introduced Kitab Mormon,  .............. it almost turned into a bible bash it was scary ahahha but Sister Davis is so smart and chill and controled the situation,  her daughter just kept POUDNING us with questions like DO YOU BELIEVE THIS AND THIS AND THIS AND GINI GINI GINI,  I was so stressed out hahahahah.  but it's fine, we just bore our testimonies and told em we're not there to force them to do ANYTHIGN, we're just here to invite them to come unto Christ and Kitab Mormon will bring more happiness in their lives!!!! 

I hope we'll see em again this week, and I hope we keep finding people to teach!!!!  I'm waaaay out of time, but i love you all and I love you all for your encouragements and kind emails to me. Have a nice Christ centered week everybody! The Church is true!! <3

finally i got a good computer to send more pics!!

1) here's cute anita again at her baptism, she was confirmed yesterday (':