Dear Family,
I hope everyone, especially Mom, was able to survive no letter yesterday. I'm sorry about that. No one in the whole mission could email so you weren't the only worried mother out there. But, thankfully we could take time out today to send you an email. As the subject references, We got to watch conference this past weekend, just one week behind the states. Fortunately, since I am in Jakarta and work a little bit with the English branch here I got to watch part of Conference in English, both of the Sunday Sessions, but had to watch the Saturday Sessions in Indonesian. It was definitely hard to understand fully but I could definitely understand the basic premise of most of the talks on Saturday, but let's just say that I am looking forward to the Conference Issue of the Liahona in English that I will get soon. But, the Sunday Sessions were amazing. Proud to report that I guessed the apostles speaking correctly in both sessions, and I didn’t even know who spoke in priesthood, so I'm sure I won! My favorite talk was Elder Christofferson's about how Heavenly Father is the gardener in our lives. I felt it really applied to me as I sometimes question how in the world did I end up in Jakarta, Indonesia. But I've learned so much about trusting Heavenly Father and that He knows exactly who I am becoming and what I will be able to accomplish here and in my life. It was a great talk! And... I guess all the other ones were really good too.
The highlight of the week was yesterday, when I pretty much completed the only thing I really wanted to do when I came to Indonesia ... I saw and petted a komodo dragon!!!! Yep, it is true! Me and my companion along with one of the senior couples here went to what is called Taman Mini and it is kind of the tourist attraction where you can go and learn about all the cultures of Indonesia. It was really fun. Part of it was about the animals of Indonesia. When we went to go see the komodo dragon the worker there told us we could touch it. I don't think I will ever get that opportunity again. Not only that, but then I held a 6 foot python!! The worker wanted to put it around my neck, but I wouldn't let him. Maybe at the end of my mission, I don't want to peek too soon!
The more exciting thing is that we have a baptism this Sunday. It is for a 14-year-old boy named Michael. The missionaries for about a year have taught his family now. The mom, Ibu Cynthia would get baptized also but she and her husband aren't legally married and they are too poor to get that done and too proud to let anyone help them. But the son Michael has a really sweet testimony. He is so excited to receive the Priesthood and pass the sacrament. And he has started saving money for a mission. It has been very exciting to help teach him in the weeks leading up to his baptism and hopefully his family will follow suit in the upcoming months. We were also supposed to have a family, a mom, dad, and two sons, get baptized also but they backed out last week. The wife doesn't want to give up working on Sundays, the husband doesn't want to get baptized without his wife, and the kids don't want to do it alone. Kind of frustrating, but we continue to work with them and pray for them and hopefully soon they will get baptized.
As for teaching Muslims, we have to get permission for the mission president to teach them. And we are teaching one Muslim lady, Sarah, but right now it is more informative about what is Christianity and what are Mormons, but last night she told us there were things about Islam that didn't make sense and that Christianity might answer those. So we are hopeful, but still have to be careful. But usually we just use them as references to find out if they know any Christians. But we can't talk about the gospel unless they ask us about it first so it takes awhile.
Actually, I do get to see my mission president at least once a week. Since I'm in Jakarta I go to the mission home once a week for District Meeting and he joins in for that. It has been nice to get to know him and his wife better. Definitely a blessing, but once I move from Jakarta it won't be like that. The smog is definitely pretty bad especially when we are on the road traveling. I hear it isn't bad at all in the rest of the country so I'll just have to endure it for a couple of months. The rain hasn't been too bad. It rains about every third day or so and usually it is the annoying light drizzle that makes it unbearably humid, so I don't like that. But we have had a few bad rainstorms which are really, really loud! But it is getting out of rainy season so it is just hot now. I have already started getting a nice tan line. It should be marvelous by the time I come home. The other cities sisters serve in are Malang, Solo, and then the other one can change but right now it is Jogjakarta. Solo and JogJa are kind of like the cities everyone wants to go to and love to serve in and Malang is the one where people dread going because it is so hard. Jakarta is the one no one really likes also because it is not truly Indonesia, but rather just an overcrowded, run down city. So I will be excited to end my mission is some of the other cities.
As for Mother's Day, I realized yesterday that that was coming up soon. Pretty exciting!! And I actually think I will be able to go to the Mission Home and use their computers to Skype. I'm not sure yet, but most likely I will be able to. But it will probably be Sunday night for me, so Sunday morning for you. Is your church still at 11? Make sure Dad doesn't have any meetings!! I'm pretty excited about it. And I think you should just move Bevan's temple trip to that weekend so everyone will be in town to talk to me. It seems perfect to me!
I'm glad things are doing to well at home. Congrats to Simon and his job!!! That is so exciting. I'm happy you will be in Provo when I come back. It will be a party with you, Malan, and me! Congrats to Bevan on passing your interview. I have been worried... Not really, but congrats that is awesome. I can't wait for you to go out on your mission. And I'm happy the Mavs and Rangers are doing well. All I hear about here is soccer, which I don't quite know or care about. I definitely miss American Sports!! How is Grandma doing? I haven't heard much about her in awhile. I hope she enjoys my emails. I miss you and love you Grandma!!
I'm going to try and share a funny story each week. So we went to go visit a less active lady who usually stands us up. So we just stopped by unannounced to visit her and she was home. We went into her house and I immediately started to sweat ... about 90 degrees in her house. It was bad. She goes to the kitchen to get something for us to drink and I am praying it is just some water. But instead she brings us each a cup of hot chocolate!! I couldn't believe it!! That was the last thing I needed! But I drank it not to be rude and I haven't been able to cool off since. All for the Lord and His work!!
Well, that's about all for this week. I'm doing better each day and am definitely beginning to love being a missionary here. This is a great work and I feel honored to take part in it! I love you all and miss you!! Till Next week!
Love,
Leah
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