Elder James in Indonesia: Bekasi Week 5

Hello once again,

First off, I would like to wish my Dad a very happy Fathers day, and my sister, Janessa, congratulations for graduating High School. My family is the best, and without their love and support, I would not be doing as well as I am on this Mission. I feel their love for me, and it gives me strength to continue on this Mission. I have been doing well this week in Bekasi. Sometimes I feel like I was called to be an English teacher because of all the classes we teach, but it is nice to serve the community in some way. I will now describe a few cool things that happened this past week.

After emailing last Monday, we played ping pong at the church for a little bit. It was a great activity because we were in a nice building with AC the entire time! I will probably get pretty good at ping pong after awhile.

We were also invited by Fedri, an English Student, to eat Rendang at his house. Rendang is a delicious beef dish that is originally from Padang, Indonesia. We ate at his house and visited for a little bit. It was a lot of fun.

As far as our investigators go, we have had a hard time meeting with most of them this past week. But the few that we were able to visit are doing well. We have really been focusing on finding more people to teach, which is pretty hard, but we have been trying really hard. I meet with many nice people every day, and it is great to be able to see how the gospel can bless these people. Unfortunately, many are too busy or often just do not want to hear the message. But we continue to invite others, and hopefully we will have some success sometime.

Since we have not had many people to teach, we have visited with many members in our ward. One of which was Bro. Bambang, our Ward Mission Leader. We visited him and his family, discussed the work in the ward, and asked for any referrals or inactive members we could visit. The members here really are great. They have helped us so much in our work, and they are willing to go with us to some appointments.

Another family that we often visit is Brother Eben's family. We eat at their house almost every Sunday, and they always have a ton of food! Brother Eben gave a talk on Sunday as well about obedience, and it was really great.

Exchanges were this week, so for Friday I was with Elder Mongan, and on Saturday I was with Elder Johnson. It truly was a test for me on my knowledge of the area. With Elder Mongan I got lost looking for a member's house, and we ended up in a forest basically. But with Elder Johnson I was able to get to all our appointments. It was really funny because on Friday, many of the English students had a surprise for Elder Johnson. He began to teach, and then the class became super rowdy and misbehaved. After being confused for a while, Elder Johnson gave up and asked me to teach.

A cake was then brought in and we celebrated his birthday. He was really surprised, and we had a lot of fun with the students.

On Sunday, I got a big bag of goodies from the Jatmiko family in Solo! It had a lot of food, drinks, pictures, and other cool things. A member brought it all the way from Solo just for me! It was a wonderful surprise. I really miss that family, and I am so grateful that I was able to serve in Solo!

There are the highlights of this week. Although I did not do anything too special, I had a really good time. One thing I recently learned was from a quote by Thomas S. Monson when he said, "We must develop the capacity to see men not as they are at present, but as they may become". This is a great quote, and when I heard it a while ago, I thought it only applied to other people. But I re-read it, and realized it also applies to us. We should not be upset or inpatient at the current imperfect state of ourselves, but we should have an eternal vision of what we may become and achieve. With this perspective, we will receive strength to overcome any trial and we will be able to change the weaknesses, which we are all so prone to. I am so grateful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which gives me that surety that things will be better in the end. I know that is true. I hope you all have a great week, and I will talk to you again!

-Elder James