Bekasi Week 12

Halo Semuanya lagi! {Hello all again!}

I have had a really cool week, with some interesting experiences. I love weeks like this, because even though there are some unpleasant experiences, I learn a lot, and it is unique. I would also like to thank all of you who have sent me letters and other things. They really make a difference, and I am so grateful for them! Here are some experiences from this week.

Last week, on Monday, we went to Jakarta and played footsol with other Missionaries for P-day. I actually did pretty good, in comparison to how I played when I was new in Indonesia. I also was able to take some really cool pictures with my new camera, and they turned out great! It was really nice to see many of the Missionaries from our Zone. We had to leave from there a little early, because we were invited to eat with some English students. They fed us Soto and some other food, and we had a good time.

One night when the AC was out, I must have slept with my
hand outside of the mosquito net, because when I woke up my hand was
covered in bites, but the rest of my body was fine.

Also, I am so grateful, because after many hot, long, mosquito infested nights, our AC was finally fixed. The guy that came to fix it was late many times before, so we had to wait for a pretty long time. But he got it done, and it is so much better now! The problem, surprisingly, was a very small lizard that entered into one of the pipes and died. It stunk so bad for such a small lizard! We thought it was a rat from the smell. The first night with the AC was amazing. I woke up cold, which felt so good!

On exchanges with Elder Johnson, we had to
ride on a ferry to get across the river

District leader exchanges were this week, so I followed Elder Johnson to his area for one day, and then Elder Mulyono came with me to my area a few days later. When I was with Elder Johnson, we proselyted in an area that he found which was full of Christians. Right away, we found a few ladies, and taught the first lesson. We also took advantage of having two Americans together, and ate at Wendy's for lunch. There are only a few in Indonesia, and it was so good! 

A shake (really rare here) and root beer!

Later, we were going to teach a young member about the Plan of Salvation, so we stopped at A&W and got a snack while drawing the plan. He was very smart, and is ready to be baptized!

A rock found in my food!

I usually do not eat at places like Wendy's, McDonald's and others because they are the most expensive here! (but the same price if not cheaper than in the U.S.) We mostly eat at places on the street that have good, cheap food. But this last time I got that food, I was chewing, and bit something really hard. It was a rock! It was completely disguised in the vegetables and rice. I am lucky I did not break any of my teeth! But it was okay.

On Friday, we went to Jakarta again for Zone Conference. We discussed our investigators, and any problems we were having, and also heard some announcements and changes from the leaders. President Donald also came and discussed some of the changes. One is that we now have to carry a Book of Mormon in our hand everywhere we go. I really like this new plan, because people will be curious about the book. It also helps us focus on our purpose at all times. We ate at Burger King afterwards, and then took a train back home. The train was absolutely packed! People would push and shove to get in. I felt so bad for the little kids who were getting smashed. Since the gas prices are up, the train prices have gone down, so more people ride trains. To get from Bekasi to Jakarta is only 20 cents.

This is me and Pak Hutabarat, an investigator. He is super old, but really nice.
He is way funny. Every time he meets with me, he says, 'excellent boy!' in english.

Well, there is my week! I hope you all liked to hear about the cool experiences I have had. One lesson I learned this week was from this month’s copy of the Liahona. It was an article by Elder Oaks, about revelation. He told a story when he was President of BYU, and wanted the President of the U.S. to come and speak. He could not decide when, how long, or what the subject would be, but he could just ask, giving the President all the decisions. It is the same with prayer. We cannot decide when, where, or in what way God will answer, we can just ask with faith. He will answer, but it will often take time. I have definitely experienced this on my Mission so far. Thank you all for everything, and I will talk to you next week!

-Elder James

This is a cool landmark in our area that I pass often.
It is in a place called 'Harapan baru', which means 'new hope'. 

Elder Johnson in traditional clothing

Happy day--the 7-11 in Jakarta now has Mt. Dew Slurpees!

I thought these signs in McDonalds were funny, since they are "only in Indonesia."
The Musholla is a prayer room for muslims.
And of course there is a smoking room since everyone smokes here.