Catch-up!

I am amazed at how fast the time is passing and how out of the blogging world I have become. I am often tempted to remove myself from Facebook,thinking that I would: 1. save a lot of time and 2. maybe go back to blogging. I think the benefits of #1 would be huge. Kevin now has just under 8 months left! He is currently in Jakarta and is serving as a Zone Leader. This gives him the opportunity to travel the area a little bit and to serve the Elders in the area a little more personally. I can tell he is learning a lot about leadership and other skills necessary to be an effective leader but he is also learning patience. The Indonesian people are wonderful but as in many areas of the world, very non-committal. So appointments are set, travel endured, and then they aren't there! I know this has been a frustration on many levels for Kevin. I am pleased to hear his attitude is staying positive and he is learning to be flexible. Ahh, the lessons we learn as we serve. I am so proud of him. I miss him everyday!!! But I would have him nowhere else! Ok, maybe Kuna (inside joke)!!!! I will do my best to post his emails from the past few months and then add some pictures that he has sent.

July 11, 2012 Hey! How is it going? I am assuming you all are busy this week, dad is probably in the middle of recovery from surgery, hopefully it has gone well, and I forgot when mellie was having her surgery, but hopefully it goes or went well. This has been a very quick week. In some ways it feels like I didn't get a whole lot done, we were busy with a lot of things for zone conference, which is thankfully over! haha. It was really great though. Unfortunately we have had a pretty tough week as far as teaching goes. Pretty much none of our investigators were able to meet this week, either they were out of town or just way too busy. That is kind of the killer in Jakarta, people are often really busy. But we trued, and that is what matters most. We did have a really cool lesson with 3 guys from Papua. I really like teaching people from Papua because they are usually a lot more open minded and don't try to debate. They were pretty excited, and luckily there is another member from Papua that taught them with us and he helped them feel a lot more comfortable. Unfortunately they have been really busy and like true Indonesians never want to make appointments until the day of, so we have not been able to meet with them again. But I know one of them has read the Book of Mormon a little bit which is good. Well I don't really have all that much this week! Here are some pictures from the past few weeks. Earlier today we went ice skating for P-day which was really fun. ANd yesterday all 5 from my MTC group were in Jakarta to renew our KITAS which is like our ID to stay here, so that was really fun to see all of them! It was the first time we'd been together since a year ago! They are all doing really well. Um I was just wondering if I could ask a favor, my companion really wants a small english hymnbook, like what Aunt Diane gave me, is there any chance we could get one for him? He would be super stoked! Even if it were sent later, closer to Christmas I could still easily get it to him... Let me know... Well that's all I have for this week, Hopefully you all are doing great! I love you! The church is true! Thomas S. Monson is a prophet, and Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ live! sampai nanti, Kevin We actually missed sending him our email this week. I had attached a few pictures and it didn't go through. We felt HORRIBLE!!!!

Wednesday, July 18, 2012 Hey everybody! This past week has been pretty good, unfortunately we have not seen very much progress with investigators... Denis has been out of town for the past few weeks so we have not been able to meet with him... Hopefully he will be back soon. And the Papuan guys are pretty much missing too... They never can meet, or they just don't answer their phone.Oh yeah, mom asked where papua is, it is not on jawa, it is way to the East. The reason I always say they are Papuan is because most Papuans are very black, they look African, and also they are usually Christian, so we are always really excited when we see Papuans on the street. I remember the first time I saw a papuan in Manado I thought he was from Africa and could speak English! haha. There is no branch there yet, but half of that Island is not part of Indonesia and the Church is thriving, Papua is just politically unstable right now, there are a few members there. It is good to hear that Dad's surgery has gone well! It sounds like ya'll are going to have a lot of cookie eating to do!!! haha! Enjoy each one, there isn't much for good home baked cookies here, except for the when the senior couples bring them to District meeting... It is the best. I will say that Indonesian food is really really good, except for the desserts... The desserts/ cookies here are not good. I think that is probably why I have been able to lose weight... Yes the ice skating was really fun, but to be honest it just made me really want to go skiing... I think that's the closest I will get to skiing while I am here. Oh I forgot one minor detail from last week, the one and only Carl's Jr. in Indonesia just happened to be really close to the ice rink so I was able to get a good old western bacon cheeseburger... It was so good. So, to answer some questions about zone conference, It was for all of Jawa Barat (west java) so there were Elders from bekasi, bandung, tangerang, jakarta and bogor, and also the elders from Medan and Manado, as well as three of the mission couples, President and Sister Groberg nd also the AP's. In total about 25 missionaries... Elder Marsudi and I had to teach about planning, the whole conference was about ch. 8 in PMG which is about using time effectively through planning and goal setting. It went really well and I learned a lot from all of it. I really hope I can get planning and goal setting down because it is something way more important than I understood before zone conference! That is crazy that BSU is playing Michigan! Is it at michigan too? That is so cool. Hopefully we can get it done.. It seems like we rarely play big ten schools, or am I wrong? I cannot even imagine what it feels like to be in a dry place. I think I like humid more! Hopefully the fires and stuff won't get too out of control! Oh ya and for the hymn book, if you could put his name on it that would be really cool, put this on it: Elder Kristianto Utomo Marsudi. I think he will be pretty pumped about it! Last saturday we had a fireside at the church to try to involve the members more... We watched How Rare a Possession which is an awesome movie! And then we had a testimony meeting and stuff. The goal in planning, and also in the announcing of the fireside was that they would bring their family and friends, but not many did, a lot of members invited friends but they said they couldn't come... Which was a shame because the meeting went really well, the members shared some really strong testimonies of the Book of Mormon which got me all fired up about it too! I love that Book! I know I say it a lot, but it is amazing! I was thinking the other day about the introduction where Joseph Smith boldly testifies that man will come closer to God by abiding to its principles than by any other book in the world. I have seen that happen in my life. My life changed when I started reading it each day at BYU. I really hope you all are still reading it often(every day)! I guess the other thing I have learned lately is what it means to be patient. The past few weeks I have been a little bit grumpy because things haven't gone perfectly, but one thing I have learned is that patience is striving to do God's will in all things, like obey His commandments, but accepting His timing, and trusting His promises that He will bless us. I know He is preparing people in Jakarta, we just haven't quite found them yet! Oh yeah, this week we start our round of visits again, so today I am in Bogor until friday... woohoo! Hopefully it doesn't wear me out like it did last time! It is really fun though. Well I love you all! Keep enjoying summer and smiling! Dengan Kasih, Kevin

For those of you who are counting, Kevin is on his last Ramadan! A whole month of fasting, we should never murmur about our monthly fast day again. ;-) iPD Wednesday, July 25, 2012 oh yeah... if it's possible I could use maybe a little bit of money in my account, my jeans don't fit anymore and they are getting kind of ripped in a not so good place to get ripped... if it's no in the options though, no big deal. Ramadhan! The month of fasting started last saturday, and it is way different than how it was in Manado since Jakarta is a Islamic majority city. But it isn't too bad either, there's a little bit less options for food, but it is ok. Unfortunately we had to go to Tangerang a little bit earlier than we had planned, so I actually just got back from there this morning! But maybe ask Tim where he lives in Tangerang, so I can have an idea. Also, how big of a teaching opportunity do you think will come from it? I still need to ask Pres. Groberg about it as well... But yeah I should be going back there in about a month and a half. Well it is good to hear that dad is continuing to heal well! Hopefully it all continues to go well! That fireside sounds like it was way sweet, is Andrew Fales back in Boise again? The messages they shared are way good, I am still on the fence on what dream I want to pursue later, luckily I have lots of time before I need to decide or think too much about it! I miss our ward, there are some really awesome people in it. You will have to tell them all hello for me! It will be interesting to see how the temple looks again, sounds pretty cool! BEETS... yum. I am jealous. Well things are still kind of about the same as far as the work goes, but we are just trying to work through it all! It will get better. The good news is we got ahold of Hendry and Novi again and we have an appointment to teach them tomorrow morning, hopefully they can start progressing. The good thing is that we saw one of the semi active/ part member families we have been working with come to church. Well the mom and her son who are members came, but we met the nonmember dad for the first time last week and he loves the Church, and how it has helped his sons, but is active in a different church. Oh well, at least he knows the Church isn't bad like most people here think it is! I am praying that his heart will be opened. There is this awesome family from Zimbabwe in the English ward that spoke last sunday and the wife shared a really cool idea that I liked, she siad that we need to put off our self-centeredness and put on our Christ-centeredness. I thought it was really good, and something that we can always do better! I am trying to do it but it can be so tough at times! Well... That is pretty much all from this past week, sorry if there's not a whole lot of interesting stuff... I love you all! OH!!!!! I almost forgot, wasn't Maddie's birthday this week?? Happy Birthday Maddie!!!(hopefully I am not too early... ) Have a great week! Kevin

Wednesday, August 01, 2012 Hey! Well hopefully you have gotten the bird out already, but if not here is my suggestion because I have had that happen once before while you were out of town! Turn off all of the lights in the inside of the house, and turn on on the lights outside and it should fly right on out! Last time that worked really well! Good to hear that dad is continuing to heal well!! Hopefully everything continues to go smoothly. I definitely am glad that I am not in young mens anymore, high adventure/ camping is just not my thing! haha though camping might not be worse than living here at times... I might actually like it a lot more now! Ramadhan continues to go well. It is kind of funny how commercial it is. It is a lot like Christmas in the states. Every store has Ramadhan decorations, there are decorations everywhere! sometimes they even have Christmas lights...well i guess now they're called Ramadhan lights... Yesterday I scored one of the perks of Ramadhan because at 6 they break their fast, and we were on a bus and next thing I knew there was a free cup of water and some palm fruit in my lap. It was pretty nice! haha The work is progressing, bit by bit! but we were not able to meet with Hendry and Novi... it was a real bummer but that's how it goes sometimes. This past week has been a little bit tough on me, not gonna lie I was a little down in the dumps at the end of last week, but the past couple of days have been a lot better. We have just been looking for addresses of less actives and former investigators all day and it's been fairly successful so far! We have a really awesome new investigator named Daniel that is a friend of a member, and used to be an investigator in Tangerang. He receives the lessons really well and is really excited about the Gospel. It is nice to teach people who receive the Gospel well! When they really want/ need what it teaches they are willing to do what we tell them will bring them closer to God, and then they feel it and it is awesome. Today the quote from Jeffery R. Holland about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon has come to my mind, how No evil man could write such a book, and no good man would, unless it were true. I think back to the things Joseph Smith and the early saints went through and I know they would not have endured it unless this was true and that Heavenly Father helped them. I am so grateful that they did endure it, and I am grateful for the trials and tests our Father in Heaven has and will give to us to strengthen our faith and testimonies. He is definitely trying to teach me to be patient right now! I know He will lead us to people to teach! Good to hear that Savanah is still doing well, tell her hello, when is she heading to school? And that's also good that Brayden is doing well! I feel bad I didn't get any of their info to try to write them... but I figure it's already awfully late now. I have stayed a little bit in contact with a couple of friends, one is in the Ukraine, Bryan, and the other, my old roommate, Jared, is in Brazil. They are doing great! Well Time is pretty much up, I love you all! Hopefully you are doing great! Love ya! Kevin

Wednesday, August 08, 2012 Howdy Ya'll, Good to hear you're doing well, and that you were able to get the bird out! Hopefully Dad isn't getting too lonely being alone at the house! Everything is going pretty well here, it has been stinking hot and dry here though! Well it really isn't much different than usual except it has been a really long time since it has rained. But then again it is the dry season right now so it's normal. Maybe all of the pollution just makes it feel a little warmer. This week we have been busy trying to go find inactive members and help update the ward list. It is crazy how out of date it is, sometimes the people we have been looking for had moved away ten years ago... Are there problems like that in Boise too? The good thing though is it gives us ways to try to find people as we're looking for the members. That has been our main focus lately... we are just trying to figure out ways to find people! So far we've been able to get some contacts and stuff, the tough thing is the big holiday of the year is coming up at the end of Ramadhan, and a lot of people are busy with preparing for it and also heading out of town. It is really truly the equivalent of Christmas break in the US. So that could slow things down a little bit. This week has definitely yielded some interesting and great experiences, and of course one of them is about the Book of Mormon :] The first was a few days ago as we were waiting for a bus to head home and this guy starts talking to me in English, he has met the missionaries before, and he started asking me questions about the Bible. He asked if I believed that it had been translated correctly or if there were mistakes in it. He then started asking questions about Christ. Then he pulled out his Al Qu'ran (he wasn't dressed like he was fanatic, but turns out he was) and started showing me how it was still in Arabic and that it has never been translated, so it is still perfect. I asked him if he still had a Book of Mormon from when he met the missionaries before, but before I could talk more about it our bus was there so we had to go. After that I was just thinking how nice it is to have the Book of Mormon to back up everything. If there was no Book of Mormon his argument would be fairly valid, but because there is the Book of Mormon it isn't an argument at all. I am so grateful for it. Our Father in Heaven definitely knows what He's doing. The other experience came on fast sunday, after a pretty good and tough month it was really great to see Heavenly Father answer our prayers and send someone to sacrament that was interested in the Church. We are pretty stoked about this new guy named Rian, that just moved to Jakarta from Central Java and is looking for a church to go to. We were able to teach him and give him a Book of Mormon and invite him to pray and ask Heavenly Father what he needs to do, and he said he would. So it was a decent start. It just reminded me that the Lord is preparing people to give them the opportunity to learn about the Restored Gospel, then it is up to them to make the choice. Last week we had zone leader council again which was really good, there are new missionaries here today from the states, so starting tomorrow we will be a threesome with on of them until saturday, it should be pretty fun! And then at the end of the month we are getting 10 or 11 new indonesian missionaries! But I don't think I will be training this time around which is unfortunate... training was fun. Well, that's pretty much it for this week, oh yeah, I was just wondering what the progress is on the hymn book for Elder Marsudi? Thanks! That's pretty much the update!!! I love you all! The Church is true! Kevin oh yeah... these are some pics from the past month, enjoy!!!

Wednesday, August 15, 2012 Hola Mi familia! I still remember a little spanish... but most of what little I still remembered has been replaced by Indonesian. Random... sorry. Well the chicken head was definitely not anything special. Elder Marsudi loves it and I promised to eat it with him once. it doesn't taste disgusting, there just is not much meat to eat off of it. I did not eat the eyeballs, but the brain was definitely good! I have a nice video to show you all later of me eating, or in other words sucking it out of the skull. it was cool though. At least I can say I did it! Well hopefully you are staying somewhat safe from all of the fires! Funny that you mentioned smoky air, I am guessing it still isn't close to as bad as the air in Jakarta! The air here is so dirty, but I am used to it now. Right now I am in bogor for exchanges again! We have not left jakarta for the past couple of weeks because we have had lots of stuff going on, oh and mom asked if I met the new missionaries, yes I did, There are two new elders, Elder Broberg and Elder Coleman. It was kind of fun to have the stay with us for a couple of nights, truly the first couple of days are so interesting here, so it was fun to see their culture shock. They are awesome though, they are already pretty good with the language, it is just hard at first to understand the natives speak. unfortunately Rian did not come to church again, we weren't able to meet with him either, but it is ok, we're just praying that Heavenly Father will answer his prayers if he'll read and ask. That's one of the tough things about mission work is there is only so much we can do as missionaries before each person has to act for themselves, and keep their commitments. But I know there's people here who want and need the Gospel that will be willing to act. This week is a little bit crazy because on friday is Indonesia's independence day, then on sunday is Idul Fitri, or the end of the Fasting month, which the holiday for it pretty much goes from saturday through monday. and since most of the people in Jakarta are from other cities outside of Jakarta, most will go home, so Jakarta will be very empty, so they say... So the end of this week will be a little tough as far as the work goes.. But it will be fine. Sorry I do not have much to talk about! Things are just a little slow, but I am optimistic! We are just contacting as much as we can now and it's going pretty well. I am just super grateful for the simplicity of the Gospel. A lot of the Christian people here are so confused, and filled with doctrine that is just ridiculous, it kind of makes me a little sad when they can't look past what they have been taught for so long and consider something new.. but I know one day they will. welp, that is all this week, I love you all! The Church is true!!! Have a great week! Kevin

July 4,2012 Selamat Hari Kemerdekaan! It is crazy that it is already the 4th of July again... This has been a really quick week. The exchange in Bandung was pretty good, it is really nice there because the weather is a lot cooler at night than it is here. I woke up in the morning a little bit too cold! It felt good. That is crazy about all of the surgeries going on! What is up with all of the problems lately!!!??? All will work out, that's for sure! So what is the whole scoop on the work thing, after Dad is done at HP where next or is he just going to retire really early and spend the rest of his time mountain biking!? :] Luckily this week we are not going out of town, but we are busy and a little bit stressing trying to prepare for zone conference next monday! I am excited for it, but it is a little different this time around because Elder Marsudi and I have to teach. So far the prep has gone well though. Unfortunately Hendry and Novi could not come to church again! A family member passed away so we have not been able to meet with them at all... It is a total bummer. But two sundays ago a member brought his nephew, Dennis to church and he is really interested and I am pretty excited about him. He is young, only 16, but his uncle is a super strong new member that is way pumped about missionary work. So Dennis has a pretty good support system. So what are your plans for the 4th of July? Hopefully it is a good day! I am excited for Indonesia's independence next month, I am guessing it should be pretty cool in the capital city! Last sunday we had a really good lesson with a former investigator that we are trying to teach again. WE read together with him Mor. 10 and talked about it. We wanted to commit him to read and pray about the BoM. I hadn't read mor. 10 all the way through with an investigator, usually we just use verse3-5, but this time we read all of it and broke it down and the Spirit was definitely there testifying! It was really good. Moroni 10 is amazing! You all should read it and just ponder the fact that they are Moroni's last word for us, the messages are amazing! Well, my time is up! I love you all, the Church is true! Kevin

Wednesday, June 27, 2012 Hey ya'll! Wowzers! That was a lot of big news to get all in one week! Hopefully everything will al work out for the best, it definitely will because it will go according to the Lord's will! I will pray for you all. Unfortunately Hendry and novi didn't come... but this week they said they will come. Something came up and they had to leave town! We had a geat lesson with them on the Plan of Salvation, I think they are starting to feel that the things we teach are true. I have to apologize today I don't have a lot of time, we took a little pday trip to a big zoo kind of like the one I went to in surabaya... It was really fun, I go to feed zebras and elephants and what not! Next week I will hopefully send some pictures! We have been blessed with lots of new contacts this past week and I am really reall excited to be ableto try and meet with them in the next few days. We actually have to leave town tomorrow morning and go to Bandung for another exchange there. I am excited because I will get to see my last companion Elder Yarkasi again! Hopefully it will go well, I have to admit all the traveling is way tiring, I hope I can avoid a job with lots of business trips in the future! But I also enjoy it. Ok sorry, I have to go! I love you all and I pray that all of you will continue to well! I know all will work out for the best! The Church is true! Kevin

Wednesday, June 20, 2012 Hey! I cannot believe you all mentioned bacon.... It has been a long long time since I have had a real piece of bacon. I guess that's what I get for being in an Islamic country... haha Well it has been a pretty great week, a little bit stressful, really dirty (because it's Jakarta), but definitely rewarding! The best news is that on Sunday Hendry and his wife Novi and two of their kids came to church! It was kind of out of nowhere that they came, because we were not able to meet with them all week. They came late, but never late than never and this week we have had two awesome lessons and they want to come again on sunday! So it has been great to teach them, it is really fun too because they are from Manado, and it reminds me of my old stomping grounds! Thanks for the quotes and scriptures! They are great, and definitely reminded me of lots of things. It sounds like Maddie still hasn't quite grown out of being shy yet! that is so funny. I bet they are all so funny! Oh ya! Happy late Father's Day!! It sounds like it went really great. On sunday the sister missionaries' investigator was baptized, I got to baptize her which was a really cool experience. It still just amazes me that the Lord trusts us with the power and authority to perform such important ordinances as Baptism. I think it is such a huge sign of his love for us, as well as his trust in us that we can live worthy of such authority! Because it is such a holy and sacred power that is why it was removed from the Earth for such a long time, because mankind wasn't ready to hold it again. I am so grateful for Joseph Smith, and the Restoration and the truths that we have because of it. God really does love us and He really does want us to return to Him. I guess what I am trying to say is that the Priesthood is amazing! It is good to hear that Mikey is still doing the band thing! I look forward to being able to hear him play again, it will be super neat! That is crazy that Logan has been touring and what not, is Mikey thinking about touring at all?? So right now we are in Bekasi, another "suburb" of Jakarta which was actually the first city I served in when I came to Indonesia, almost exactly one year ago! It is amazing how much different it feels, but also how much it has not changed at all! It seems like just yesterday I was in complete culture shock and had no idea what people were saying or what was going on. Well Mom, I hope you are doing well with your new calling! I bet you are doing such a great job. I have realized here how important reactivation is! It is such an important responsibility that we have as members to reach out and help those that are struggling, and they really do recognize each and every effort we make! It always makes such a huge difference, even if it doesn't seem like it at first! Ok, my time is up! I love you all a bunch! Keep being awesome, and keep enjoying the summer, but don't forget to read your scriptures and pray! Sampai Nanti, Kevin

Wednesday, June 13, 2012 Hey ya'll! I am super sorry, but I dont have a whole lot of time today!! We have to go out to tangerang tonight... I would love to try and meet with your friend tim some time! Maybe you could get me his number or something and I could see what I can do! We will go out there about every 6 weeks or so! This week has been crazy busy and fast!! We are still trying to find people prepared... The people here are a little tough, like that old mission pres. said, they love receiving us but struggle to keep commitments! I know there are people out there who want to though! I hope everything is going great, it sounds like it is! Enjoy the summer!!! For the most part things are going great, I really have no complaints! I love you all! Kevin once again sorry this is so short.

Wednesday, June 06, 2012 Hey everybody! Jakarta is still jakarta, crazy and busy... It has been a very quick week that is for sure. So about the house, it isn't THAT big, it is just throwing me off to have an "upstairs". I still just miss the tiny little house in surabaya, it was great and easy to keep clean. This week has definitely been different than most, in fact right now I am actually not in Jakarta but in Bogor, a little outside of jakarta. We are on exchanges. I am not District Leader anymore, but instead Elder Marsudi and I are serving as zone leaders for Jawa Barat, which includes jakarta, bekasi, tangerang, bogor and bandung. Pretty much every week we go out on exchanges now with one of the districts... Yesterday we had a meeting with President Groberg, the AP's(one of which is my old comp Elder Kujanpaa) and the other ZL's(one of which is my trainer ELder Marijanto). So it was super fun to see them again, especially Elder Marijanto! He is the best.. we had a good time remembering the good ol' times in Manado. I am not the biggest fan of exchanges and meetings, it kind of takes up a lot of time, but it is what it is... That is super sweet about the Baptism in the ward!!! And also way cool that Hayden is home! tell him hello for me! I miss that kid!! haha Also, way cool about the rededication, but I am a little confused what the cultural celebration will be... what exactly does Idaho have for culture?? hehehe just kidding, Idaho is the best. Do we know yet who will do the rededication? It is good to hear all of the kids are doing great! I bet they are growing and getting so big and funny! hopefully I have not been forgotten yet... As far as our area goes, we are trying to just find some more investigators to teach. We have taught this guy from Manado the past couple weeks, but he has been super tough. he is a seventh day adventist, so we have to deal with the whole sabbath day issue... He is kind of having a hard time receiving Joseph Smith, so that is the really big issue right now. The good thing is he loves the BoM and has read til the end of 2nd Nephi. I think he will come around, he is a great guy, and it is fun to throw out some bahasa manado with him every once in awhile. Earlier this morning we taught him, shared Ezekiel 37 with him, I have never realized how powerful that is until now! That is such a sweet prophecy about the Book of Mormon, I could tell it taught/ testified to him as well. So that was cool. Oh yeah, yes I have been able to go to the mission home, we go there once a week for district meeting so I have been using the soap and what not that I brought here. Unfortunately there is a ton of stuff that I did not need to bring, but I am holding on to it all just in case. Well, I don't have much else to say. I am grateful to be serving,as humbling as it often is. There's often days where I feel like I know nothing, but I am grateful to be able to learn and grow each day. The Church and Gospel are true! That one is for sure! I know is we faithfully obey the words of the Prophets we will be blessed with peace and happiness, and what else more could we need. I love you all! Kevin

Tuesday, April 24, 2012 Selamat Pagi! Sorry I probably won't get to read your emails this week, seeings as you haven't sent them yet. We had to do our emailing earlier in the morning today because we are going out to this zoo called taman safari as a zone! I hope you all are doing amazing and have had an excellent week. I am doing great, this past week has been amazing, full of a lot of really great experiences. We were able to have the first group meeting in Sidoarjo! the Turnout was a little less than expected, 3 families came, but next week should be a lot better. The Spirit was very strong in the meeting, I never really imagined I'd be having sacrament meeting in a small A/C repair garage, let alone feel the Spirit as strong as I did there. As the meeting went on I just kept thinking about how the Church started, just a small amount of people in a small house, and now it's grown to more the 14 million people. It is cool to think that this small group will become another branch later, and then hopefully a ward, and after that maybe even it's own stake. It will take some sacrifice from the members out there, but the Lord will bless and strengthen them. I would send pictures of the group, but these computers can't download pictures, minggu depan saja! :] Elder Yarkasi and I also had the chance to go teach this lady and her husband who has been way sick for almost 12 years. I didn't really understand how wick he was from her descriptions until we got to the house and as we walked in the door I saw a skinny skinny man laying on a mattress on the floor. We weren't really expecting what we saw, but what we knew from the man's wife is that he has been losing faith in this trial which would definitely try all of our faith. We decided to teach about the Plan of Salvation, especially about the Purpose of life as described in Alma 34:32. This life really is just a moment in the grand scheme of things, and we can always know and have hope that we will rest from all our suffering and pains after this life if we just keep living righteously. I think what we taught helped him out a lot, it was just another one of those times where I am grateful for Restored truth. Um, I guess I haven't really told you all a lot about my companion, Elder Yarkasi. He is the MAN! He is really really funny and we have a great time working together. We have been able to get a lot of work done, but also we just have fun with it all. He was a little bit shy at first but you know I broke him right out of that! I don't know what else to say about him.. he has been really great to work with. We will probably be companions until june or so because we survived transfers last week. :] Ever since I moved for the first time from Manado I have realized how moving is not fun at all so I am really just hoping somehow I can stay in Surabaya until I go home. haha Yuni and Dian are still doing well, they are pretty much members now, just they haven't been baptized yet... there still hasn't been much of a change with their father. Last night as we were just heading out after teaching them he came home, he isn';t much of a talker but he is very nice. He works really hard for his family and I think he is a great guy and will make a great member of the church later! Well I hope you all are doing great! The Church is true! I love you all a bunch! Kevin Wednesday, May 02, 2012 Hey everybody! Sorry I threw you all off with the early email last week, this week it's all back to normal. The zoo was pretty intense, I got bit by a lion. Pretty sweet huh!? It was just a little cub though so it isn't that sweet... It was a really cool zoo though, I had a lot of fun. Dang, the draft sounds like it was pretty sweet, lots of draftpicks from BSU! I have basically forgotten what football is... It is all soccer here. The meeting in sidoarjo was a lot better this week. A lot more people came and it was great. right now it is not a branch but just a group, and the Branch President in Surabaya Barat is the Priesthood leader. The two senior couples here have been doing most of the work for it, mine nad elder Yarkasi's part has mainly just been teaching some of the members out here about once a week. I was super pumped because one of the families we have been working with who has been inactive for almost 25 years came to the meeting on sunday! It was awesome! Hopefully things continue to grow out there, one family has a couple of friends who want to learn about the Church as well so we could have some more people to teach too. Yuni and Dian are doing great as usual. they are on date for the 3rd of June, so we are pumped about that! Hopefully I will still be here to see their baptism. Still no change in the dad, so that is stilll the big factor in it all. We got also got an awesome referal from a member that is his niece that is really excited about the church. Hopefully we can start finding some potential priesthood holders too becuase that is a huge need here. oh well we teach whoever will receive us! haha Um as far as emailing me, we're not supposed to email anybody outside of the family, sooo i guess if people want ot talk to me they can send letters, it usually only takes 2 weeks and I have them. I got a letter yesterday from Mel and the boys which was super cool! And if anybody writes me I will definitely write them back!! and those questions from those moms about backpacks and what not, a back pack is really nice to have in the mtc, but in indonesia they'll probably only use a backpack if they are in a biking area. I bought a smaller bag once a got here for when I was in Manado because backpacks are a hassle in angkot areas. So yeah it's kind of up to them. Unless they serve as AP they will not have a dryer, just a washing machine/ spinner that is good enough. deodorant is ok here, no matter what they will sweat and they will smell kind of bad by the end of the day, that's just the way it is... The shoes I have are awesome. I ended up leaving one pair in the office and have just been wearing my slip on ones and they are holding up so well. Just tell them to pack very light, I brought way too much stuff and had to leave a lot of it in Jakarta. We might be able to skype on mother's day, but most likely I will just call because I don't trust the Internet connections and the Senior couple in our branch will most likely be going up to Malang that week... I still don't knwo when I will call, next week I will let you know. Well my time is just about up! I hope you all are doing great! The Church is true! Read your scriptures and say your prayers! :] I love you all! Sampai nanti, Kevin Wednesday, May 23, 2012 Howdy Ya'll! Well I guess the big news of the week is that I got transferred! I am now serving in Jakarta and it is INSANE. Traffic is crazy, buildings are huge and there are people everywhere! I just got in yesterday at around 3 so I am still trying to get used to it here. My new companion is Elder Marsudi from Solo. We were in the same zone for awhile in East Java so I already knew him a little bit. I was a little bit shocked and bummed to leave Surabaya but that's just the way it goes and I think I will like it here. It is good to hear everything is going good for everyone over there! I still cannot believe it is already getting towards the end of May! It is a little bit depressing to be honest, and they say time in Jakarta goes even faster because all the time gets sucked up in traffic. Hopefully it doesn't go that way for me. I remember when I first got to Indonesia there was a missionary serving here that had 11 months left named elder quinn.. he just went home today. It has all gone scary fast. It sounds like everyone is ready for Summer over there! Just keep sprinting to the finish!!! I was thrilled to hear the Lakers lost, yesss. as long as the Lakers dont win things are great. My last few days in Surabaya were good. Elder Yarkasi and I both moved from the area, so we had to get things ready for the guys that were coming in. WE just made sure that they knew about Yuni and Dian so they can keep being taught and hopefully be baptized soon.. I can't wait to hear when it happens! I had an awesome experience the other day during some time that we were proselyting in Surabaya. We rode past this guy that was fixing his motorcycle, and decided to stop and help. Luckily Elder Yarkasi knows how to do all that stuff because we all know I am clueless! We were able to talk to the guy a lot, he was coming from Sidoarjo and going to a place called Benowo which is outside of Surabaya. He had left about 4 hours before that and had already stopped to fix his motorcycle 4 or 5 times, i forgot. He has 8 kids and was having a hard time feeding all of them, a lot because his motorcycle breaks down all the time so he gets to work late and gets home at 4 or 5 in the morning! He said it has really made him lose faith because life had been really tough for him. Elder Yarkasi was able to help him get his bike fixed, we both shared a little bit about the Gospel, then we prayed with him before he left. It was a cool experience that taught me how simple acts of service help us become the Lord's hands and also help us share the Gospel! I know the Church is true and that this is the Lord's work that I am doing here. I know that each of us are blessed to know of the Gospel and blessed even more when we share it! I love you all! Have a great week, Kevin P.S. is there any chance I could get some money put in my account... I bought some stuff in Surabaya, and my mission money is running low from paying for taxis and now buses here in Jakarta... Sorry to ask, but it'd be great if I could get it ASAP... Sorry again... Love ya! Wednesday, May 30, 2012 Hey ya'll, It sounds like everyone is doing great! It was good to hear from you all. Jakarta is great. I am still really confused because it is huge, but so far I have really liked it. The ward here is HUGE. there are actually 3 wards in Jakarta, 1 of which is an English speaking ward. There are 8 missionaries in Jakarta, 2 of which are the APs which cover the Jakarta 1 ward, then there are 2 sisters and 4 elders in the Jakarta 2nd and 3rd wards. The Jakarta 2nd ward is the really big one. There were like 150 members that attended last sunday. It was cool. On Friday there was a baptism for this super super awesome guy named defit. Then on sunday the other Elders in the ward had a baptism for this guy named Toni. So it has been good to see some people make covenants and the work will hopefully keep moving along well here! I don't like the house here as well as I did the Surabaya house, but this one is still nice. It is just a little bit too big. It is still good though. I have no complaints. Last night we had a really good meeting with an inactive member. He was baptized in America and when he moved back to Indonesia he didn't know there was a church here so he didn't go. He found the church again, but went inactive after awhile because he felt unworthy... We taught him about repentance and overcoming addictions and it was a very powerful meeting that will hopefully start helping him make the changes he needs to. He is an awesome guy. I learned a lot about the blessings of repentance as we taught him. Repentance is amazing, we can overcome all our weaknesses, and our mistakes can be erased as we have faith, and desire to become like Christ, pray, and try our best! I am so grateful for this Gospel! sorry.. my time is up! Have a great week! Love ya! Kevin oh yeah these are pictures from earlier today, we went to the national monument.