Bandung Week 19

Hello again!

I am finding it hard to start these emails with clever headings, so 'hello again' will have to work. I hope you all had a good week, and that everything went well. We had a fun week, with some good appointments and chances to share the Gospel. The best part of being a Missionary is seeing the spirit touch the lives of others, and how it will change their life for the better. Here are some things that happened this week.

I was able to work with the other two Elders in the District on exchanges this week. I was with Elder Loudon on Tuesday and Elder Petersen on Wednesday. We do this to help train other Missionaries and learn from them as well. It was probably the last time I will do exchanges on my Mission, and it was a great experience. Elder Loudon and I went to Sister Ellen, and also taught a Muslim man, which was interesting. He was very nice, and open to learn about new things. I have learned a lot about their religion since I have been here.

Elder Petersen and I visited Thomas and his family in Sukabumi. They were all there except for their daughter, who goes to school in Bandung. The lesson went very well, and we helped them all prepare a little more for baptism and other covenants. Thomas is so fun to teach, because he already has such a great knowledge of the Bible, and everything that we teach is in accordance with what he knows. It really is amazing.

President Donald and his wife let us know that they would be coming here, so we did a lot of preparation on Friday to make sure they could see a lot of people and teach as much as possible with us. The Lucherinis came with them as well, so we split up the companionships with each couple, and planned on visiting a ton of people. That night we had English class, but hardly any people came because it was raining pretty heavily. It has been raining a lot here.

On Saturday, Elder Panjaitan and I worked with President and Sister Donald. We had a car driven by a member, so we were able to visit four less-active/part-member families. The traffic was really bad, but luckily all the appointments went through. It was the first time he has ever been here, and he had a great experience. It was awesome teaching with him. He showed such love to everyone we met, and they felt it for sure.

Church was very nice with all of them here, and President Donald really touched many members when he spoke. Lauren came, like he always does, and was happy to meet with President. He kept talking about serving a Mission, since in a year, when he can apply, President Donald will still be the Mission President. After Church, he came to see our house, and was impressed that Missionaries have been there for eight years. He met with the nice man that owns the house, and talked about repairs that may need to be done.

Well, thank you all for everything. I will only email a few more times before going home, which is crazy to think about. I hope that you all have a great week!

-Elder James

This is the former Elder Mulia and his family
His mother will be my Indonesian teacher at BYU

Kittens at the courtyard of the church 

President Donald took us out to an amazing restaurant

We like to play chess, but Elder Petersen likes to distract the people playing
and tells them what to do, so to help him resist the temptation,
we taped his moth shut!