Three Emails...Got a little behind! Kevin is doing GREAT!!!!

August 3, 2011
Selamat Agustus!
I hope you all are enjoying the last bit of summer. I cant believe it is already august. craziness!
SO first off, what the heck mountain west conference!? I still am not a big fan of that conference. but oh well, no worries, it doesnt matter what jerseys we wear for sure!
And the deal with mail here is that you cant send it through the Pouch mail thing the Church has, it has to be sent normally!
So the guy who told me that the Islam fast startted last week was incorrect it actually started on monday. It is a pretty huge deal here for sure. for the most part muslims are happy about all of it, but I am thinking at about midway through the month they'll be a little crankier, no food and even worst no cigarettes while the sun is up. I dont know if I have said this before, but EVERYONE, at least amolst all the males, smoke. and from what I saw yesterday they start young, around 12. IT is very very sad.
So, Dad asked about whether or not we teach Muslims, it is a pretty difficult situation. We cant really ask if they want to learn or anything, they have to approach us and ask. And if they want to learn it has to be cleared first by the head of their house and then by President Groberg. I am yet to teach any Muslims, it is just such a big no-no in that religion to enter into a different religion.
Our biggest finding method here is by far the angkots but also we often go into neighborhoods and try to make conversation with people. My personal favorite is when the person is sitting outside just asking " Ada istirahat sekarang?"- basically it is are you resting right now? and then they often get excited about a white person speaking indonesian and then we talk from there. It is a very different way of proselyting here, , but we usually talk with them for a while before we bring up the Church, unless they ask then we can just go for it. the most we can really say is we're missionaries from the Church and then hopefully they ask about it.
The big news this week is that Novita is now on date to baptized... but unfortunately she wants to wait quite awhile, so we can teach her mom a little bit too, and ease concerns. but we are excited about that, even though it is three months away!
one of the biggest problems in the branch here is keeping members active, it is also very very hard to find those that are already inactive to try and see if there is anything we can help with. But one member we have met with every week is a guy named Fery, who has been inactive fore about 2 years. Noone realyl knew why. but he finally opened up to us and we're now starting to help him get back into the Church and keeping the commandments. He is an awesome guy, and I could already tell he was happy to commit to start living righteously again.
Something I have really come to know here in Manado is how special this Church is because it teaches true doctrine and principles and focuses on Family and helping families be strong. I know this is the one true church, and I know it is led by Jesus Christ through a living prophet.I know that through Priesthood authority, ordinances of salvation are done so that we can become closer with Heavenly Father through covenants. I am so grateful for this opportunity to serve and help others learn how great our Father's love is for us.
I love you all!
Have an excellent week!
Sampai minggu depan!
Kevin

August 10, 2011
howdy howdy!
Another week has flown by! It has been a good, hard week that is for sure. It sounds like all is well in the US of A. Indonesia just seems to get crazier and crazier every week. It has really really been a harder week. We just can't really seem to get anywhere with our investigators. Mostly because we can never meet with them because they're busy. I often ask myself " Why do people have to have lives? why can't they just always meet with us!" but I am learning quickly to be patient with everyone, with investigators, myself, members, and our district.
I think i have said it before, but the people here are hilarious! a few days ago, we were teaching this guy named cornelius, and he has a ton of chickens and his house is more of just like a roof and it is all open so the chickens just kind of roam... well as we were teaching him, and trying to help him understand the restoration, because earlier he told us he is so grateful for the prophet mormon that is in America right now who wrote the Book of Mormon... So as we were teaching him, it was really quiet and then out of nowhere one of the chickens was right behind me and started trying to fly up and land on a rafter for the roof but got stuck... It scared me half to death and then Cornelius says " OH! it was the Holy Ghost!!" eeeish... so funny. He is a very very interesting fellow.
Novita is still doing well as is her friend Olivia, who we're teaching now and she already has a testimony about the Book of Mormon! The biggest thing they are going to have to overcome is being willing to switch churches, because their church right now- Gereja Bethel Indonesia, is almost right next to ours. So they are a little bit shy about it and things like that. But as their testimonies get stronger it won't be a problem for them.
One of the highlights of the week for me was yesterday when we met with Sister Novita, who was recently baptized. Brother Novan her husband is out of town on business, so we missed out on him. But their family is SO strong. It strengthens my testimony every time we meet with them. They are just so humble, but yet so happy and they have already see nthe blessings of the Gospel in their lives. On Sunday she bore her testimony and it was just great- It gave me a lot of hope too. Even though things are pretty tough right now in this area, and it is easy to let myself get down a little bit here and there, There really are people who are ready and need the Restored Gospel. now, If only we can get around the junk churches here to find them! People here are just too filled by churches here with things that are good, somewhat true, but not completely true. But they dont understand that so they don't really want to hear from us.
Needless to say I have learned quite a few things thus far, first be patient and love the people, second be a little more patient, be obedient and just work hard because I can control my effort and if I worked my hardest, I can go to sleep at night feeling good.
And the last thing is something the president Groberg said about 2 months ago at zone conference- it is ok to be disappointed, just never let yourself be discouraged.
I love this place, I am loving this opportunity to serve, and I am learning and growing so much every day.

I love you all! The Church is true, don't ever forget it! Read your scriptures, say your prayers and go to church! :]
Kevin

August 17, 2011
Kemerdekaan!
Haha today is the Indonesian independence day! So everyone has been all fired up about that!
First off, I am sad to hear about Carrie... Needless to say all will work out as we continue to pray and exercise faith with it! Tell her I love and miss her! And of course say the same to all the rest as well! SOunds like the campout was a blast! I bet those kids are just getting so hilarious. I am also sorry to hear that school is already starting again... you poor souls! The kids here have already been back in schol for a month or so now. It really is the worst feeling though, going back to school. And if the summer went as fast for you as it has for me, it hasnt felt like summer at all.
I was disappointed when BSU joined the WAC because I have already witnessed first hand that it is a joke of a conference. All of those reasons are why BYU left it. Hopefully BSU wont have to stay for long though, or maybe some changes will be made. Oh well, it sounds like this year will be interesting but also pretty good! The Georgia game should be amazing, hopefully it is better than the last time we played georgia... eeish. Let me know how it goes!
AS far as the work goes, it is still goin! We are just continuing to try to find and teach at any opportunity we get. we have some pretty god investigators right now. One, Alicia has met with the missionaries before with her husband. unfortunately her husband recently left her for other pursuits regarding religion. but she is very open and we know this Gospel will bless her greatly to know the fulness of our Father in Heaven's love for her. Novita is still the same, doing great. She has a very strong testimony already. The other investigator that is awesome is this guy named Eko who is 23 years old, hasnt attended GMIM for 3 years( Elder MJ and I are pumped about that part) and is very smart so he understands pretty well. The hard part is meeting with him, he is so busy always with musical pursuits, work, school. But he is awesome and the other day as we were proselyting after an appointment fell through we just decided to pick a street and walk, next thing we knew it was Eko's street and he saw us and called us over. The Lord really does lead his missionaries. We had been trying to meet with him again for about 3 weeks, and finally were able to! It was great.
The language is coming along... my companion always tells me i am already fluent... but I definitely dont feel like it yet. IT gets better everyday, it is really nice to have a companion that doesnt speak very much english at all, Elder MArijanto really helps me out a ton. He is such a stud. He is so humble and has taught me a ton already about how to serve. I really don't like to think that in a month and a half or so I will probably have a new companion... He is just the man.
It has started to rain here a lot lately... already three times in one week, and I have not yet bought a rain jacket, i think i am god on money but I might need more for it... IT RAINS SO HARD HERE. One hour and the roads were flooded the other day. It was nuts. I think it is the most rain I have ever seen. definitely awesome though.
On SUnday I have to speak in the branch... I had a hard enough time speaking for 15 minutes in English, Indonesian is going to be a whole diferent story. it will be interesting for sure...
Well, sorry I dont have much this week, But I know that this is the Lord's work. SOmething crazy about Manado is it is one of the newest branches in Indonesia, also the farthest from Jakarta which is the center of the Church in indonesia, and indonesia is about as far as you can get from Salt Lake City. Needless to say this is kind of the frontier of mission work! I know I am here to help these people by sharing the Restored GOspel with them and I am loiving this opportunity!
I love you all!
Have a great week, enjoy school! :]
Kevin