Yogyakarta - Week 24

Selamat Pagi semuanya!

This week was one of those slow weeks where everyone cancels and it's kinda rough living but you still receive tons of blessings and learn that God truly is great!...yeah one of those weeks :) Here's how it went!

Senin: We had a really good family night with the Sudio family. They are an absolutely awesome family. Mbak Atin came and we talked about Joseph Smith and prophets. It was a really good lesson with the Spirit present.

Selasa: This was a good day. We met two people interested in the church at a restaurant that sells food from Manado (where Sister Believe is from). They were super kind and right away wanted to come to church on Sunday. Wow! We had other appointments cancel but it's all good! We still did the work of the Lord.

Rabu: We met with Mbak Atin again and she really opened up to us. The Spirit was present once again and we're really grateful she feels comfortable to express her concerns. The rest of the day was pretty slow but still good.

Kamis: We had an awesome Weekly Planning Session. We set some really great goals for this week. English class was good too, we had a pretty decent turn out and leanred about Goldilocks and the Three bears.

Jumat: We had our District Meeting in Magelang. It's about an hourish bus ride away from Jogja. It was a good meeting and we ate at a yummy restaurant. When we got home Sister Believe and I met with a new investigator who is muslim but wants to marry with one of the members here so he's taking the discussions. He's really great and receives everything.

Sabtu: Saturday was just a normal hard working day. President Donald called in the afternoon to tell us about trasnfers. Sister Believe is being trasnfered to Medan. I get to pick up my brand new fresh from the MTC companion on Friday in Jakarta! I'm really, really excited to train! She's from Bekasi which is close to Jakarta. She's the only Indonesian Sister coming in but there are 2 Indonesian elders. 4 other sisters coming today and 8 elders from the Provo MTC. The mission is growing!

Hari Minggu: Wow we had 5 investigators come to church! It was so great! And a less active member came again and hopefully will just keep coming. One of the contacts we met on Tuesday came and asked some really great questions. He would make a wonderful priesthood holder.

Well I love this work. I love this gospel, and I love Indonesia!! Thank you for your love, support, and Christmas cards. Maju Terus, Gereja ini Benar!

Love,
Sister Sperry :)

Sorry there weren't many pictures from this week so here's some from last week at the Makam Raja (King's Cemetery).

 

 

Yogyakarta Week 23

Hello!

I hope everyone had a good week and a nice valentine's day. Our valentine's was a little crazy... I'll get there! Here's how my week went :)

Senin: We got to play basketball as a district and with the Magelang Elders. It was tons of fun and a good way to let out stress. Afterward Sister Believe and I tried to visit some of our investigators that live REALLY far in the country but it started to rain really hard and it didn't happen...

Selasa: On Tuesday we had a family night at a less active member's house. She's climbed Mt. Everest! How cool is that? I guess she's like the first woman in Asia or something... I'm not completely sure but she got this award and some news articles done about  her. She's really neat and really does want to start coming to church again.

Rabu: Wednesday was a normal day. We had a really good lesson with one of our investigators, Mba Atin, who hopefully will be baptized this upcoming Sunday. Sister Peni came with us and it was a really nice lesson.

Mba Atin, her mom and the Sisters

Kamis: For some reason, it was really hard to meet with people on Thursday so Sister Believe and I did some contacting. It was super successful but the point is we did our best and really tried! Sometimes you just have days like that.

Jumat: Valentines day! Well the alarms went off at the right time but it was so dark outside! I kept staring at my watch thinking, "it cannot possibly be 6:30 in the morning, there's no sun!" Then I heard some of the other sisters oooing and awwing. Turns out there was valcano in East Java that spewed ash all that night. it seriously looked like it had snowed in Indonesia! Later that day we heard word that there was supposed to be a huge earthquake around 4pm so we all gathered at the church and waited it out. The big earthquake never happened but I guess there was a little one at 2 am that night. I'm here for two earthquakes and didn't feel either of them. I guess that could be a blessing right?

 

Sabtu: Everyone was busy cleaning their homes from all the "debu" (ash). We tried cleaning a little too but it just gets moved around and then settles again. We'll keep working on that. We were able to visit two of our investigators which was good! We have to wear masks and jazz but it's all good.

 

Hari Minggu: We went to Mba Atin's Mom's house to ask her for permission to be baptized. It was lots of fun and Mba Atin's family is super nice. Her mom said yes! Hopefully this week Mba Atin will be able to be baptized.

 Drinking from a coconut

Eating the coconut

Well I can't believe another week has passed. Thank you for your prayers and love.

Sampai jumpa!

Sister Sperry :)

Yogyakarta - Week 22

Hello!

Well another week has flown by. I realized that including my time in the MTC I've been out around 6 months...gila! Well here's my week.

Senin: Monday was good. I got to hang out with just Sister Believe and learn a little more about her. We cleaned the house and made an interesting cake for the Sister Training Leaders that came that night. We had a good Family Home Evening and the brother is going to lend me one of his guitars! I'm hoping I'll be able to find time to learn.

Selasa: We had splits with the Sister Training Leaders. I was with Sister Manalu for the second time and it was really neat. I learned a lot from her and I can't believe she's already heading home tomorrow! She is such an amazing missionary and member of this church. Thank you Sister Manalu for all you've done! I was able to learn that I actually am progressing in becoming a little bit better with this missionary work and language. Yay for progress!

Rabu: Pretty good day too! The only unfortunate thing is one of the investigators we visit isn't very excited about our visits anymore. Maybe it just isn't her time yet.

Kamis: Another good day. We had 3 people come to english class which is actually pretty good here!

Jumat: Friday wasn't all that effective until our last appointment. We had a really good lesson with an investigator that has been learning for a long time now. The Spirit was present and we got her to commit to pray about baptism on the 23rd of this month! Sister Believe and I are praying she'll be ready. She really, truly wants to be baptized.

Sabtu: Yet another good day. The missionary life is just good. Well, hard, emotional, amazing and just fun and rewarding. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else! We visited a less active member and he said he would come to church. We also met with a few new investigators that seem really interested.

Hari Minggu: The less active member came! Just for a second but he came! Church was really good and the rest of the day was nice too. I'm so grateful for sundays and also for the knowledge I have about the church and the gospel. This church is true! It is the most complete on the earth. I know it!

Well thank you all for your love and support! I'm still getting Christmas Cards which is actually kinda fun. Love you!

Love,

Sister Sperry :)

Yogyakarta - Week 21

Hello!

 

Well it's been another lovely week in Jogja! The weather has been a bit crazy, hot and then all of a sudden a down pour of rain. It's been crazy everywhere in Indonesia! Manado had a situation close to something like a tsunami a couple weeks ago, Jakarta has flooded, there was an Earthquake in Jogja (Sister Believe and I were riding our bikes and didn't feel it) and ya! How exciting right? Things are alright in Manado. Many homes were destroyed but thankfully Sister Believe's home wasn't. In Jakarta many people didn't have a place to stay because of flooding and the missionaries helped out there.

Heavy rains!

Here's my week!

Mon: We had the awesome opportunity of traveling to a village, pretty far away, by bike and boy was the ride wonderful!! This land is really beautiful and I love all the green and all the rice feilds. My appreciation for God's art work really grew.

 

Tues: Tuesday was a good day. WE worked hard and had a good lesson with on of our investigators. The Spirit was there and I could tell that she felt it but still didn't quite accept things. She's just comfortable where she's at and where she's at is good! But there's better. ;)

Wed: We talked a lot about priorites and watched a film about John Tanner with some of our less active members. John Tanner is amazing. He's a man who really understood the law of consecration. I thought about my priorities and how I'm doing with the law of consecration. I'm really learning how to become a better person here on my mission and I am real grateful. I still have a long way to go to becoming "perfected" but at least I know where the path is.

Thurs: We had ZTM! (Zone meeting without the president). It was a good meeting. There's a really big push to meet the mission goals. We're doing alright so far. Afterward we were able to have a small zone trip. We ate at McDonalds (I still don't care for it) and then went to the zoo! Even though not everything was out and I didn't ride an elephant it was still lots of fun. Met a few crazy new investigators there too. ;)

 

 

Fri: a normal hard working day. It was a holiday so a little hard to meet with people but not hard to contact and meet new people! Oh and a miracle for the other sister happened. One of their investigators got approval from her mom to be baptized!!! Yay!! We were all so happy and she got baptized on sunday!

Sat: Can you bleieve it's already Feb?! Waktu lari (time runs). Saturday was a good hard working day. I got sunburned and have the sweetest than lines!

Sun: A bunch of miracle happened! Our investigators from Claten came, a less active member came to church AND bore his testimony, the sister's investigator was baptized (and beaming!) and there is an awesome member who was will the friendship for us that day. All just so great!

Well I hope you all have a great week. The work of Salvation continues!!

Love,

Sister Sperry :)