Dear Parents,
I sent you the picture of your
daughters earlier but I should have included the story of the young man they
were teaching. I've promised the Sisters I would send them this story so
I decided to take time to write it. Please note how much we love working
with the missionaries in Solo. They are all amazing, but we are becoming
very fond of our sister missionaries. They are truly dedicated to this
work and are doing such an wonderful job teaching investigators.
Two weeks ago, we left for church at 7:30 am and attend both meetings in Solo and then return home. After the second meeting, the sister missionaries called and needed a ride to an investigator’s home and asked if we would give them a ride - an hour and a half drive each way. Six hours of church isn't much in the mission field, as Sunday's are always our busiest day. We did have pressing matters to organize the temple trip for ward members, but we always love to be with the Sisters. Besides that, the spirit whispered, “This is the reason you are here; you need to help.” Our driver, Bono, always makes us feel safe, and he was willing to give up his Sunday evening, so we headed to Sragen. The streets seemed extra congested with loaded trucks and endless motor bikes, but we enjoyed the visit with the sisters.
Let me introduce you to Afif. Afif walked towards us down the crowded ally of Sragen, bare-footed, dressed in tight denim jeans and a black tee-shirt with the words “Two Evils” bold displayed above a a snarling tiger and a skeleton. I wasn’t sure what to think as the sisters told us there was a lady in the next town who had worked with the sisters in another area and was ready to be baptized before she had to move for her work. All of that was correct except the lady really was Afif, a twenty-two year old young man. You would want to call him a boy, as his 5 foot form belied his age. He appeared more like a high-school student with his slim build, his beautiful, Javanese skin and thick black hair. It was his friendly, beautiful smile and honest gratitude that we had traveled so far to meet him, really caught my attention and helped me to fall in love with him immediately. In Indonesia, we are really not able to go in Muslim homes to teach investigators and the sisters cannot teach a male alone, so we were glad we had traveled with them; Afif’s invited us into his apartment.
Afif really didn’t have a home;
he lived in a cost or rented room. These are like small, storage units
about ten feet by ten feet that rent for about $10-$20 per month. The
room was almost totally bare except for a 8 foot by 8 foot by 4 inch pad on the
floor, a small, twin bed, and a stool in one corner. We left our shoes at
the door and knelt on the floor. Afif introduced himself to the sisters
with his story. He came from a Muslim family in Sumatra, a neighboring
island to the northwest. That island is almost totally Muslim and in the
village where he was raised, all women (including Christians) must wear the
traditional jilbob, or Muslim veil to cover their faces. In 2004, the third
largest earthquake ever recorded on this planet hit his island of Sumatra and
caused one of the largest tsunami’s ever recorded. Twelve-year old Afif’s
mother was killed by that tsunami leaving him with his father and
brother. Although Afif’s family and the entire community were Muslims,
sometime after 2007, he learned about Christianity and he decided wanted to be
Christian; he was immediately kick out of family and the community.
Afif has not been home since
then and only communicates with his brother. He told us he has been
through many dark periods of his life where he robbed, drank and smoked.
He remembers stealing some items on January 3, 2014, hurting someone, and
feeling so badly. He was found by authorities and taken to jail. In jail
he learned about Christ and Christians. He stressed how he wanted to
repent and was learning about how Christ made that possible. While on
vacation, he was helping at a restaurant and met the sister missionaries.
He spoke with them and they shared a message about the gospel of Jesus Christ,
and gave him a Book of Mormon.
Afif testified that the Book of
Mormon was giving him everything he was looking for and helping him to
repent. He used to drink about 13 cups coffee day. Since the first
day he met the sisters, he has had no coffee. (I was in shocked that he
quit drinking coffee. In this country, the water is filthy. Coffee
at least boils away the impurities.) I looked around his scantily
furnished apartment. There was a bag of coconut milk by his bed with two
straws. Coconut milk really doesn’t taste great. Next to it was an
empty bottle of water. As the sisters interviewed Afif about his
worthiness to be baptized, I continued to glance around the room. There
was a big Marlborough sign across his closet and above the door, probably 40
packs of empty Marlborough cartons lined an open cupboard. The sisters
asked him about smoking and he said he was down to 1 cigarette a day. He
said, “ Only one today and I will stop.”
I couldn’t help but stare at
Afif as he spoke with enthusiasm to the sisters. He seemed to love to
talk. I pictured as small, twelve-year old mother-less boy looking for
someone who cared about him, someone he could talk with and share life.
It really touched my heart as I began to view Afif as God would view
him. As he talked about reading the Book of Mormon he stated he worked
until 6:00pm daily, returns home to eat and then studys the book each
night. It was changing his life; it was what he had been looking for.
When he changed areas with work, it worried him that he would lose
contact with the missionaries. He texted them and then waited all day to
hear from them. He explained how thrilled he was to have someone contact
him. He declared his desire to be baptized. The sisters asked him
to pray and he gave about 8 minute prayer that was sweet and sincere. He
is scheduled for baptism August 23rd. Afif touched my heart in a way it
has never been touched before. I can't get him off my mind and I am
praying he will come to church and let the gospel fill the void he has had
since his mother's death.
The next Sunday, Sister Sperry
paced back and forth in the hall between meetings, scanning the court yard in
hopes Afif would show up for the meeting. She had been texting him all
morning and he told her he was on his way. I could tell she cared so
deeply about the young man, even though we had only met him the week before.
All of us at the first meeting had a pit in our stomach as we watched the
door of the church hoping he would appear. Where was he? He lead us
all to believe he would be at church so he could be interviewed for baptism.
After our meetings Sister Sperry let me know Afif had texted that he was
in an accident and been thrown from his scooter. He was OK but a little
shook up an returned home. It wrenched our hearts and we prayed he would
be alright.
On Friday, Sister Sperry,
Sister Zabriskie, Sister Ingersol and Sister Toegono (the Sister who orginally
taught Afif before he transferred to our area) lined up another lesson in
Sragen with Afif. The road was crazy busy with weekend traffic, but
again, Bono is cautious and makes us feel safe, even with the
"kamikaze" motor scooter drivers who have no fear and no concern
other than beating out the next scooter. We must seem quite a spectacle
as we approach the inner sanctuary where Afif lives. His apartment is in
a courtyard adjacent to a Muslim Mosque or community center. It was a
busy Friday evening with activites going on in the center and the five
"Christian" women got a lot of curious stares as we walked resolutely
passed towards the open door looking for Afif. He wasn't in his room, although
the door was open and the light welcomed us. He soon appeared from
around the corner with his shy, yet gracious grin. He seemed pleased to
see Sister Toegono again and we introduced him to Sister Ingersol. What
young man wouldn't love four beautiful sisters visiting him? Afif had
changed his shirt and was in a clean, batik patterned cotton button up shirt
with skinny black jeans. He seemed even smaller and more frail than I
remembered, yet everything about the room was etched in my memory. Even
the gecko in upper corner seemed to remember we had visited before. We
welcomed us into his home and it seemed totally natural for everyone to just
sit down on the tile floor and appear as comfortable as if we were on someone's
living room couch. There was a fellowship in the room that night, and
although I didn't understand all that was said, I could understand the
feelings. I could tell when Afif was talking about his family. There
is a sorrow in his voice and he explained he does have one sister (it was a
brother as we originally thought) who he does keep in touch with. You can
feel his need for family, just as we all need our family around us.
We are so impressed with our
sisters and the spirit with which they teach. They have learned the
language so well and converse so fluently. It is great to have Sister
Toegono with us, especially if we can't understand a word or phrase as we all
immediatley turn to her. But this evening, Sister Sperry lead the
discussion and kept us focused. Even though Elder Lewis and I can't speak
the language, the spirit taught all of us again about the love the Savior has
for his children as we all felt his love in that room. Afif apologized
for missing church and told us more of the story. He had helped someone
that Sunday morning put out a fire, which was very dangerous and must have
scared him. After as he traveled the crazy, busy highway, heading to Solo, a
scooter cut him off and he was flipped from his bike. He said he injured
his arms and legs and didn't feel up to attending church; he just wanted to
return home. He listened as the sisters taught, each adding their
thoughts and testimony as they discussed the importance of attending church, partaking
of the sacrament, interviewing for baptism, and preparing for the temple.
We read from Mosiah Chapter 18, and he told us again how he loves to read
from the Book of Mormon. Elder Lewis asked him what stories he enjoyed
reading and he said, "All of them. They answer my questions."
Afif closed the lesson with prayer and he prayed with sincerity and
gratitude. You could feel his love for the Savior.
Tomorrow is Sunday and all four
sister and Elder Lewis and I again will be watching the door of the church and
hoping that our Afif will join us. We love that young man and pray he is
strong enough to overcome his addictions and join us in this glorious gospel.
Hope your Missionary will fill
you in on the rest of the story.
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