Jakarta - Week 11

Halo Halo!

I know it's so cliche to say but time really is flying! I can't believe November already is coming to a close and soon it'll be Christmas. The weather hasn't changed here really at all. ;) But life is still good! There are even some Christmas decorations up at the mall near where we live. 

This week I had a neat experience with priesthood blessings. On Wednesday I got really sick. My throat hurt so much that I was afraid to swallow because of the pain. Talking was a trial and I was not feeling well at all. (I was also sick of being sick...). Sister Narko and I decided it would be best to go to the doctor and get a check up. I don't know why but the whole way there I was thinking that maybe I'd need my tonsils removed or something crazy like that. I was a little scared and for some reason emotional. Everyone at the hospital was really kind and very helpful. Sister Narko was really helpful too and I was grateful to have her at my side since at that time I really began to miss my mom. No matter how old you are, it's still a lot more comforting to go to the hospital with your mom. I kept trying to remind myself that I'm an adult and that everything was fine but that didn't help replace the need of some motherly love I was missing. 

The Doctor told me after a very quick exam and some questions that I had a throat infection. He prescribed me some pills, one of them being very pricey (I kept thinking for a price like that it better work!), and sent me home. As we were on the bus I was really, really scared because all of the medicine I would have to swallow were pills. I was not excited at all. I could barely swallow a sip of water let alone take these pills! I then was graciously reminded that I am surrounded by these amazing young men that are dressed in white shirts and ties and they have this really great power called the Priesthood. I asked Sister Narko to call them and ask if they would give me a blessing and of course they said yes. 

Sister Narko tried to get me to eat and take my medicine before the Elders came over but I refused to until after they came. I was hoping and even prayed that the blessing would take the pain away so I could eat. I prayed and asked Heavenly Father to take the hard part out of my trial away, and that doesn't usually work. I also asked that I would be able to recognize the miracle after the blessing. I didn't want to miss it and not be able to thank my Heavenly Father. 

The Elders came and gave me a great blessing and in it they didn't say "may your pain be gone" or "you are now healed" but they blessed me with the needed strength to get better and also that I would be able to heal quickly so I could return to the work. I was a little disappointed that the blessing didn't go exactly how I wanted but somewhere inside I knew it was for the best. 1st  miracle: Sister Narko actually had something liquidy that I could eat. It would be way easier to "eat" than the bread and jam I was about to attempt to eat. And a lot smarter too. She prepared it and another soothing drink for me. Then miracle 2: she showed me a way I could take my pills without having to swallow the whole thing. She dumped the powder from the capsule of the pill onto a spoon and used a little water to spoon feed it to me ;) Yeah it was disgusting but better than trying to swallow the whole thing. Miracle 3: I was able to heal very quickly! The next day I was eating and talking just like normal. I am so surprised how quickly I healed! And It's been such a blessing too. 

Heavenly Father does things in ways that we will learn. We go through experiences to learn certain concepts. I learned that He knows best through this experience. Even though I thought I showed enough faith to be healed and able to eat right after the blessing, to make the trial just go away, Heavenly Father showed me how to have faith through the trial, how to endure, and that He will provide the needed strength to continue. He is mindful of all of us! I know it is true. 

Well that's all for now! The work continues strong here in Indonesia. Sister Narko and I are seeing miracles through our investigators even the members here all the time. I'm so grateful to be serving now and in this country. Sampai nanti!!

Love,

Sister Sperry :)

Jakarta - Week 10

Hey Ya'll

So basically I have no time at all but life is good here! I'm still learning and trying to become better. 

I just wanted to thank everyone for the love and support that I've received. I can feel your prayers and I love the emails, letters, and small gifts that I get. I am such a blessed missionary! How did I get so lucky?

Sorry about the short email! Love you all! 

Love,

Sister Sperry :) 

Indonesian "party clothes"

Jakarta - Week 9

Halo! Apa Kabar?! 

I don't have much time today but things are going pretty well. Last week was really slow because things just didn't work out and were kinda frustrating. But through that I was able to recognize some of the miracles and blessings that Heavenly Father has given me. This week He opened my eyes to be able to see and acknowledge these blessings. For instance, I was wondering if I was making any progress in becoming a better missionary or if I was just staying the same. I really REALLY want to be a great missionary for my Heavenly Father. I owe Him at least that much! I was starting to feel a little discouraged but then at DDM (district meeting) on Friday we had a really good lesson! It helped me feel better and then later that day I was able to give away my first Kitab Mormon, by myself without Sister Narko's help, and the only English spoken was by him when he said "Thank you." Sister Narko even gave me a thumbs up!! I was so excited! And I was able to see that I really am progressing in the language. I still have a LONG way to go but just 3 months ago I didn't know apa pun (anything). Now there are some words in Indonesian that I can't remember not knowing. 

I know as long as I put forth effort Heavenly Father will help me. I just have to do my 100 percent first! That's something Sister Narko and I are working on.

I love Indonesia. I love these people, this language, even the food! I love The Lord and the fact that He suffered the Atonement for everyone. I'm so grateful that there is a way back to our Father in Heaven and I'm SO grateful that He is a merciful God. He loves you. 

I know the work that I am doing is God's work and that His hand is in it. I know that Christ will come again and that one day the whole world will know His truth. I'm so grateful to be a missionary and I'm so grateful I get to use the Atonement everyday to become better.

 

Sampai minggu depan! 

 Sister Sperry :) 

English Class

Family Home Evening with Rahel's Family

A taco truck!



 Some yummy food

 All of us in the back of the Bajaj - meant for about 3 small people!

 A Bajaj

Cute little Jaredrita!

 

Jakarta - Week 8

Halo semua!

Apa Kabar?! Things are going well in Jakarta! This week we had our second baptism, Tessa. She's 11 and her grandma is a member but her parents are not. She also got baptized along side of Daniel who is one of the Elder's investigators! It was so great to see both of them receive this ordinance and I can't wait for them to receive the Gift of The Holy Ghost next week. YAY!!

 Tessa's Baptism

 Daniel with the Elders and President Donald at his baptism.

So we also had PLD this week on tuesday and that's what I want to talk about the most. It was AWESOME!! We had Elder Gong from the area presidency come and visit us. He and Sister Gong are both so kind and really great. I learned a lot of things at PLD and that's mainly what I'd like to share this week!

First is that Satan really likes to interrupt our companionships. Whether we are on missions, working at a job, married, etc etc satan likes to interrupt the good. President Donald has said that we need to have "skin like a crocodile" meaning not let the little things get in the way. Say my companion...just does something out of habit that bothers me. If I let that get between us then satan will use that against us but if I have skin like a crocodile and don't let anything under my skin then all is well! Both him and Sister Donald talked about how important unity is. I've always known unity is important but I didn't quite understand just how much until I had to start living and working with a companion. The other day, Sister Narko and I was were struggling with unity and there was just a huge difference in our relationship. Also the Spirit wasn't there and I just felt so bad the whole time. Luckily Sister Narko is forgiving and we were able to get over it really quickly. Can you believe it? 7 weeks and that was the first time we've had a real big problem besides the language barrier (that I am over coming!). It's true how important unity is though! No one can do this work alone and nobody is meant to live life alone. Having unity with others helps SO much and then there's having unity with God. When we are unified with God we do His will and He has our best interests in mind! He knows what's right and I promise true happiness will come as we become unified with Him. Of course there will always be tribulation and trial but those are for our benefit.

 Beautiful Sister Narko!

 

The next thing I really learned at PLD was the "Doctrine of Stakes" For instance I didn't know that you had to have 5 stakes to get a temple in an area. Right now Indonesia has 2, almost 3 stakes. They announced that one of the wards is splitting soon, which means some of us missionaries could get moved to a different ward, and that's super exciting news! I will have you know that Zion is growing in this area of the world! It takes 5 wards to make a stake and each ward should have around 150 members and at least 15 active, full tithe, worthy Melchizidik (excues my spelling) priesthood holders. Stakes are usually around 1900 members. I also found out that there are 7 billion people on Earth. 3.5billion of those people live in Asia. The Asia area has half of the world population alone!!!  There was a lot more "statistic wise" stuff that Elder Gong told us that was really neat. It got me and the other missionaries really excited to get out there and help progress the work. It also showed that Heavenly Father really is hastening His work!

The last really neat thing I wanted to share was that I got to be on a little "question council" with Elder Gong, who reminded us that he is a general authority (he says a general authority is someone who can answer general questions ;)). He was allowing us time to just ask him any questions we wanted. He said that he, President  Donald, me and Elder Blaser would be happy to answer any questions. I was shocked when he said my name! And although I only really answered one question (I don't quite remember the question but I gave an answer from conference)  I still felt honored that a general authority chose me to help him answer questions. It was just the confidence booster I needed because the night before I was at a FHE lesson at a members house and I had the answer to the question he was asking but was unable to explain it, so, I was feeling a little down that I couldn't answer his question and that he gave it to a different Elder to answer instead. It just showed me that Heavenly Father is aware of me. He knows that I know what I am talking about even if I can't say it.

The rest of the week was pretty normal! Thank you for your love and support. I really am truly grateful for all of you!!!! Love you!

Jakarta - Week 7

Hello again!  

I can't believe October is already almost over! I hope everyone eats a piece of candy for me, they don't celebrate Halloween here. Which is fine because I can't trick or treat any way ;) so here's how the week went!

Monday: Just a nice normal preparation day and then FHE at a member's home. They had delicious food as always and we had a good lesson where each missionary shared a favorite thought or something that has stood out to them lately. He then invited us back over again for today. I'm quite excited. And actually while we are talking about today I have some cool news. We have a new investigator!! YAY! Anser to my prayers! She's buddhist and it's very interesting to learn a little more about that religion. But she says she wants to find God and to feel of His power. She says she needs His help and she really has been prepared by the Spirit. I also couldn't help but feel a close connection to her. A lot of what she said and did I was able to connect with! We are pretty similar and I hope that becomes a strength when Sister Narko and I teach her in weeks to come! She's super cool and is a Doctor. She's excited to learn and has already gotten sunday's off so she can come to church, without meeting with us first! I'm super excited to get to know her more. Oh her name is Ivon! 

Tuesday: We had piano lessons again with Ibu Tri and she told us how her trip was. She had a nice one and she gave us a ton of food like always ;) She's very sweet and I love going to see her. I always feel SUPER nervous to teach her though! But I believe this is a way I can use my talents to serve and if I show Heavenly Father that I am willing to use them, He will strengthen them! I'm learning more as I teach her about piano. Its really cool! 

Wed: We went and visited a less active member's home whose daughter had been sick. Her daughter was a lot better now and we had a good discussion about sharing the gospel.

Thur: English English English! We also got to meet the new elders that came into the area! There's 3 new elders, 2 bule and 1 Indonesian. They are all great elders and I'm excited to see our Distrik grow! 

Fri: The thing that stood out the most on friday was meeting with an investigating family. Unfortunately Ibu Ita, the mother, wasn't able to participate in our meeting and it was only the husband but we had a great member with us and a really good lesson/discussion. I didn't understand much but the Spirit was there and then the Brother said that I testified with boldness. That was quite a compliment :) 

Sat: This day was kinda scary. So we had an appointment to meet with a previous investigator. Well we failed to know (until the night before we met her) that she is a Jehova Witness and all she really wanted to do was debate doctrine. With this knowledge we still went to the appointment and when we got there we were met by MANY people. We were meeting at their meeting house and Sister and I didn't want to debate with these people! We just wanted to share what we know about the gospel. Luckily most of them left and we were able to share our beliefs with four people. They were very kind and in return we were able to learn a little more about their religion. It didn't make much sense to me and it actually helped my testimony to grow in the restored Gospel. I know the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true. I also know that others have pieces of the truth. We had very similar ideas and yet some things that were just so different. I'm very grateful to have the WHOLE restored gospel. Not just a piece of reformation. We also met with two Muslims who are very interested in the church. We got to know them and they are going to take a tour of the church and watch the Restoration video with us. They also told us a little more about the Muslim church and I again receive confirmation that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is God's true church. 

We also cleaned the area book and out of the bazillion names we tried to contact we got ONE appointment. YAY FOR THE ONE!!!! We are excited to meet with her and she seems to be excited to meet with us too :) Pray it all works out! 

Sun: Church and meeting with the Jefferies like usual :) Bro. Jefferies had some great ideas on that he used in the mission field that we want to try to see if it will help with our success. 

I know this work is the work of God and that He is the head of everything that goes on. I also know that this is the member's work. Missionaries are set apart from the world to share the gospel yes, but this work would be absolutely impossible without the members! We need ALL the members to help us as much as possible!!!! So here's my commitment to all of you this week. Prayerfully seek someone to share the gospel with. Then come up with a way that you can. Present that plan to Heavenly Father and I promise He will guide you to say what you need to to share this Gospel. I also promise that as you do His wll and His work you will be SO blessed! For instance, you will learn more about yourself. 

Thank you for everything and all the support!

With love,

Sister Sperry :)