Bandung Week 17

Hello Again!

Well, the internet is down at the Church, so we are emailing at a internet cafe near our house. It is designed for online gaming, so while we are here, little boys are yelling and laughing while playing loud games. It is pretty funny. Some of them come next to me, sit down, watch me email, and then leave. They must think I am playing a game, but then get bored watching since I am just emailing. We did not have that busy of a week, since many of the people we teach are busy. But nonetheless, we had some cool things happen, so here are some highlights.

For the Islam religion, the fasting month just began. Because of this, the streets are much less crowded, and many places are closed during the day. I remember experiencing all this last year in Bekasi, but it is much more interesting here, because the culture is more prevalent. This has caused our schedule to change quite a bit, since many people cannot meet. Also, many restaurants that we usually eat at are closed, so I will have to learn to cook or something.

When we visited Sister Agnes this week, we realized it was her daughter's birthday. They had cake and food, and it was fun to celebrate with them. Sister Agnes is a great member, and has really strengthened the Branch here. In August, it will have been one year since her baptism.

We visited a good amount of members this past week, including President Joko and his family. His daughter is probably one of the cutest little kids I have ever met. We had fun talking to all of them, and getting to know the family better. President Joko is a great Branch President, especially considering the challenges for this small Branch. 

We were also able to visit Brother Han-King, who was one of the first members in Indonesia. He lives alone, and we go there often to visit him, and help him with different things. He can read palms, so my companion and I tried. Apparently my future is very bright, with 7-9 kids, lots of money, and a successful marriage. He also predicted that my work would take me out of the country a lot, and that I may not marry until I am 30 years old. I also have the talents to be a celebrity as well.

We had a great experience teaching a contact of ours, who accepted everything we taught, and really felt the Spirit testify to her that it was all true. It strengthened my testimony as well, and my companion and I were very happy to get another good investigator. We really hope that she will keep learning, so that she can receive even more blessings from the Gospel. The Lord really prepared her for us!

Now, on to food. We ate at this Chinese buffet the other day, where you cook almost everything yourself. There were tables full of raw meat, vegetables, and other food that you bring to your own table, and cook it on a small grill, or put it in a boiling pot of soup. I ate mostly meat, which was amazing. I probably ate enough protein for a month, no joke. My stomach probably thought that I was already home, since I did not eat any rice, and a ton of meat.

On Sunday, we had Branch Conference, and a ton of members from around the Stake came. It was the busiest I have ever seen the church here. One of the families that came was the Sugiarto family from Bogor. Elder Sadiyono's family also came. There were more members from outside of our branch than the members from here. Lauren also came, and he was happy to meet all the different members.

Thank you all for your support. I will do my best to work hard until the end! See you soon!

-Elder James