Bandung Week 18

Hello Everyone!

This week was nice, with some great things happening, but we were not able to get a ton of lessons in. That happens sometimes, which means we are confused at what to do, since proselyting here is difficult. But we still worked hard, and had some cool experiences. Here are a few interesting things that occurred.

To start with some great news, my camera is fixed (partially)! After more than a month at the camera shop, the workers finally fixed the problem with the lens. Unfortunately, in the process they created another problem with the buttons. All the buttons besides the ones on top (shutter, zoom, and power button) do not work. So I can still take pictures on the General setting, but I cannot change flash, any other settings, take videos, or even review my pictures. But since they caused this problem, the service was free. I am just grateful that I can take pictures with my great camera!

One appointment that is always fun was at Sister Ellen's house. We take a train to the area, and then walk up a hill to her house. It is a really beautiful area, and I took a lot of pictures this time. She lives so far from Church, yet still comes almost every week with three kids and no help from her husband, who travels a lot and is not a member. She also has to take care of her Father, Brother Edi, who is suffering from the after-effects of a serious stroke. She truly is dedicated!

With the fasting month going on, it has been really hard to find food. We have been forced to cook a lot at home, which is fine, but I am too lazy to cook complicated dishes. So I have been surviving on pasta, instant noodles, and other easy-to-make foods. But it is really cool to see everyone break their fast at around 6pm when the sun starts to go down. People sell food everywhere, and there are some really cool traditional foods that are usually only present during this time.

After more than a month, we finally were able to visit Thomas and his family again. He had been really busy with his police duties, but now is much more free. We were so happy to go there again, and it was even better than usual because his entire family was there. (Usually his daughter is at school in Bandung.) We visited for a while, ate a ton, and gave a lesson. We really focused on the rest of the family, since Thomas is already ready to become a member. We invited them all to learn and pray by themselves, so that they will get an answer from God if it is all true. They accepted, and also said they would try and come to church. It was a great time there.

Friday, July 4th, was Zone Training Meeting in Jakarta. I was already a little tired of being on a bus for 10 hours the day before, and travelling there did not help. But the meeting went well, and it really gave me a desire to work hard until the end. They really focused on those in my group, who will be going home in a little bit, and not to start packing our bags now, but do our best right up until the moment we go home. After the meeting, we went to Burger King to celebrate Independence day. It was nice to be with a lot of other Americans to celebrate.

When Sunday came around, my companion and I fasted and prayed that Thomas and our other investigators would come to church. To our surprise, Thomas and his entire family came! It was the first time any of them had ever been to church. I was with Thomas the entire time, and I know it was a great experience for him. He participated in class, and even bore his Testimony during Sacrament Meeting. I love their family so much, and was so grateful that they are progressing as a family. Hopefully they will continue to come as much as possible, even though it is far away.

For P-day today we went to Tangkuban Perahu, a volcano to the north of Bandung. We were able to take public transportation there, even though some of the guys really ripped us off since we are foreign. The volcano was really cool, and we took some good pictures. It was surrounded by forest, so we did some hiking and exploring, finding a cave and sulfur deposits. People were selling souvenirs left and right, and the temptation to buy a lot of stuff was strong. I bought a few things such as a snake-skin belt, and a few other items. It was a really fun activity.

Well, that is about it for this week. I thank you all once again for the support and love that you always give me. I hope your week goes well! See you soon!

-Elder James

Bandung Week 11

Hello!

This past week was really great. We stayed quite busy and were able to see the progression of the work here. Elder Mangum will be transferring to Solo this week, so he is doing the best he can here before moving. We were also able to have some fun experiences, and some funny ones as well. Here are a few notable things that happened.

To start off, the Zone Leaders were able to visit us in Bandung this past week, and we had a great time with all of them. While we were messing around at the house, Elder Johnson fell into our standing fan, breaking it. The next day, we tried to attach the top part to the wall with tape. We used a whole roll of tape, but it only stayed on for about 7 hours. It fell down at 5:30am, waking us up and scaring us to death! 

We bought rope and attached the fan to the wall with nails. It has stayed up since then, and I hope it will stay that way.

We were able to visit Thomas in Sukabumi, and also got to teach his wife. She has made a lot of progress, and is learning more each time we go there. At first, she did not really want to learn, but now she is close with us, and very enthusiastic. We are focusing on his family, so that they can be baptized all together. I hope they will be able to come to church soon, since it will help them so much.

After more than a month of planning for, and inviting people to our Bible class, we held it on Saturday. We planned on many people coming, since we invited all the members, and asked them to bring their friends. We also invited all our investigators, and anyone that we thought would be interested. We decorated the room in the church really well, and had some great lessons planned. 

When the time came for it to start, nobody showed up. One guy eventually came later on, but he just wanted to debate with us. We didn't even get to teach the lessons we had prepared.

Our investigator, Laurent, has been making some amazing progress. He came to church yesterday, which was the first time an investigator has come to the church in Bandung for almost a year. The members were great with him, and he felt right at home. We taught him about the word of wisdom, which he accepted right away. He has a date to be baptized on the 15th of June. He is amazing! I am so glad that I contacted him on the train, and gave him our number, or all this would have never happened. It is so important for Missionaries to always talk to everyone.

Elder and Sister Lucherini came to Bandung this week, and they invited us to go to Kawa Putih, a Volcano/crater lake near Bandung. It was a lot of fun, and a really pretty drive. The crater smelled really bad, but it was very interesting. The water was really green, and smoke was coming up from random places. I am so grateful that they invited us there.

Thank you all for the support and love you give me. I am doing great, and I can't wait to see you all again.

-Elder James

Elders Loudon & Mangum in the car with Brother Edi's son -
on the way to Kawa Putih 

A cave near the lake/volcano 

This is Jerry, the sweet elderly man we visit every week 

Elder Mangum and I wearing our 'sarongs' (men's skirts).
We look pretty good!

Bandung Week 7

Hello Everyone,

I am sorry this is short, I am emailing from the Mission home in Jakarta because we are here for PLD. It is really late to email, and I need to get situated here and prepare for tomorrow. It sure is much hotter here in Jakarta in comparison to Bandung. I don't know if I could ever get used to the heat here. Even though this will be brief, here are a few cool things that happened this week.

When we finished teaching a new investigator in a small sub-city of Bandung, we did some exploring while contacting people, waiting for the next train to come. We talked to some great people, and found an ancient Hindu temple that is still used for worship services. It was apparently built in 78AD, and was really cool looking. It is so amazing to randomly find things like that.

It was Elder Loudon's birthday this past week, and just like Elder Mangum, he took us out to eat at 'Karnivore'. Instead of getting the huge burger, he got the huge steak. It was 1 Kilogram of meat, and was incredible. He ate it all! We also got deep fried oreos and our own meals. That is by far our favorite place to eat now!

We were able to teach a lot this week, and I am really happy when that happens. These past few weeks have been some of the best with the work that Bandung has ever experienced. I am so happy when the work goes well. One person we met with is over 70, and very lonely at home. He did not understand all that we said to him, but was very happy that we came. When we were about to leave, he started to cry, and begged us to come back. It was really sad to see how lonely he is. People take care of him, but he has no contact with any of his family. We will for sure visit him again.

For Easter, the ward had a party at the church, but since there are very little members here, it was nothing too fancy. It was mainly focused on the little Primary kids, which was good. 

The missionaries and the other adults (I don't know if I feel good calling myself an adult) played ping-pong which was a blast. There was also a great deal of food.

For Church, I gave a talk since the other speakers did not show up, and was told that I would do so 20 minutes before the meeting started. I quickly prepared a lesson on a 'great change of heart' as written in the scriptures, and how it relates to Christ's Atonement and Resurrection. It was a good 15-minute talk for having had little time to prepare. I guess Missionaries have to be able to do that!

Well, I hope you all had a great week. I also hope you continue to feel the love the Savior and our Heavenly Father have for us all. They are always ready to help us in time of need, and they wait for us to come to them. Thank you for all your support.

-Elder James

The suit I had custom - made for $70 US

The gorgeous view outside the train window on the drive between Jakarta & Bandung.
I really wish the windows weren't so dirty.

Yogyakarta Week 24

Mangga dari Yogyakarta!

This past week has been very busy. It went pretty slow to be honest, but we got a ton done, and had some really cool experiences. I will for sure be moving pretty soon, I just do not know where yet. One thing is for sure--I will miss this city! Here are a few cool things that happened this week:

We had our regular monthly Zone Training Meeting, where all the Missionaries from the Zone gather. It was held in Jogja this month, and it was so good to see everyone. We had a good, effective meeting, and made some great goals. 

Afterwards, we had a Zone activity since President gave us approval to do so. We went to McDonald's to eat, and then to the local Zoo here. It was a lot of fun! 

Our investigator, Mas Bimo, still wants to be baptized and he came to church yesterday. Because of this, we are going to try and baptize him on the 9th of February. He has already received all the lessons, and has a strong desire to serve a Mission. We are doing our best to help him, and I really think he has a lot of potential in this Church. 

I was also able to baptize Gina, the Sisters’ (Allred and Hasibuan) investigator. She is a great girl, and received permission from her parents to get baptized. The whole story is amazing, but I do not have time to write it all! It was a pleasure to get to know her.

For P-day today, we went to Prambanan, a Hindu temple here in Jogja. Everyone besides Sister Believe and Sister Sperry came, since they had appointments. It was really hot outside, and rained a little bit, but we all had a lot of fun. It was a lot better than what I expected!

Sorry this is short, but we have to get going to an appointment. Thank you for all your support! 

-Elder James

My companion and I with Yonatan after church

Sister Maria, who we visit almost every week is the best cook! 

Elder Waltman and I on our way back to Prambanan a Hindu temple here in Jogja

Elder Sadiyono and I at one of the many temple ruins at Prambanan

An all-you-can eat sushi place we ate at - it was nice!

After ZTM with the missionaries

Elder Honda, myself and Elder Canfield on top of an elephant!   

Two of the sisters and us visiting a member.
It was a one-hour bike ride, but it was so nice to meet with them.