Hey Ya'll
Sorry today is going to be super short. We had a zone trip today for
pday. We went to this pretty cool volcano called bromo. It was
FREEZING cold but still awesome. We got home kind of late and so we
have to write quick emails.
The work is going pretty well. We are working right now on trying to
get a small new group of church members to meet in sidoarjo which is a
little bit outside of surabaya. There are like 15-18 families that
live out there, a lot of them haven't been to church in over 10 years
because of transportation/ money issues. We almost had it set up to go
on sunday, but then it fell through at the last second. it was a
bummer! But it should be ready to go in Ferbruary. We have this
awesome investigator that lives out there named Yohanes. He has been
taught like 4 times and he already has a really strong testimony. He
will be a huge help to the work there if it can all work out!
The work keeps goin on! The Church is true!
I love you all, I hope all is well.
Love,
Kevin
This is a picture I found online of the Bromo volcanos. It looks amazing. I am hoping that Kevin took pictures of his own while he was there.
Wednesday, February 01, 2012
Hey everyone!
Things are goin pretty good over here. So I am not sure how cold it really was, I think probably like 45-50 degrees but I was FREEZING. It was so cold. I will try to attach some pictures from it so you can see it. The weather wasn't great so we couldn't see the views but it was still really really cool. It was really cloudy and windy but there was still some really awesome things to see. The couple of pictures are of some of the elders in the district.
So I can't even imagine 100 baptisms... WOW. I think last year the whole Indonesian mission had 74. That is ridiculous. I guess The people in Madagascar are just prepared and Indonesians aren't yet. But that is incredible.
Well the Sidoarjo thing is slowly falling through. Our investigator out there doesn't want to meet anymore, well more lie we don't want to waste the time going out there to have him not want to listen to us because he already knows everything... And it seems like there are members who are excited about it, and a lot who don't want to leave the churches they go to now. So we are kind of like trying to re-convert them which is tough. The other big problem out there is there are a number who are Muslim now and don't want to go back to church. A few of them are returned missionaries which just kills me... It really goes to 3 things, they stopped reading, praying and going to church, once we stop those things we will fall away.
The best thing of the past week was some good finding that happened! So the bikes that we have are pieces of junk and constantly break or have problems and it gets annoying but on thursday we were riding to go to sidoarjo, and we were just goin along when my chain got stuck and couldn't move, so we start trying to fix it, which took awhile when this lady walks up and starts talking to us and first thing I noticed was that she was wearing a cross, which is always a great thing to see. we invited her to learn about the Restoration and she was excited about it. so we got her number and address. I think it was about the 1st time I have been happy that that was my bike. haha There's no doubt that the Lord had it all planned out! It was cool. Unfortunately she is super busy and hard to meet.
We teach a ton of English here, Right now we have our weekly class at the church, and then every tuesday I teach two classes at a junior high school. English is the worst language ever! It is so hard to teach! I get confused. haha I feel bad for anyone trying to learn english. Yesterday we talked about weather and I taught them the snowman song which was pretty funny. It is really funny here because a lot of the english teachers here cannot speak a lick of english. They are SO bad. but it is a bummer for the students who want to learn but their teacher teaches them a lot of wrong stuff. So yeah hopefully we help them.
Welp, that is pretty much all this week. Thanks for all your love and support. I love you all!
Love,
Kevin
P.S. Mikey needs to write me. IT has been too long! I guess he is too busy being married. hahaha
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Howdy!
Well the rain has kind of started to slow down a little bit but has been replaced by a little taste of the infamous Surabaya heat! Yesterday was a lot of bike riding in hot weather which was tough but good also!
Sorry I never rewally explained my companion/ house situations. There are 4 people in our house which is new and super nice. it is tiny but really good. WE have ac in our bedroom which has been a real treat but still it gets a little too cold in the middle of the night... My companion Elder Mulyono is a pretty good kid. I am not gonna lie we have had some rough spots here and there but we're getting things figured out and having more fun together. The work was really good last week, but the start of this week has been a little rough and slow...
WE had an awesome lesson with some former investigators from a year and half ago that we started meeting with. Their names are Donatus and Ita and they are so awesome! They haveone child too but she lives back at their home city which is off of jawa. They are really really humble people and just want to learn the truth which is really nice for a change. We often teach very hard headed people, but they are different. WE taught them along with our BML, Bro Alex and we talked about baptism and Donatus said he wasn't ready yet to make a choice... and then Bro. Alex shared about the need to be confident in our beliefs because the Lord knows our thoughts and needs and will help us. I am not sure exactly what he said or how we said it but it helped the Spirit testify to Donatus and then he asked when he can get baptized. So him and his wife are on date right now for the 18th of March. The hard thing is they have to work most sundays, and Donatus' boss is Advent so he believes the Sabbath day is saturday so Donatus only gets saturdays off. SO hopefully the Lord will open a way for them!
This week I got to go out on exchanges with Elder Smith, my MTC comp. IT was super fun to go out and work with him for a day. He is doing awesome. I love that guy. And yes, I do know Elder Peter Johnson, he is really cool, skis, and lives in park city, so we have already talked about a skiing trip. He is in the group that came before me so just about 2 months older than me as far as mission goes.
Well, I don't have much else to say! I hope you all are well! I love you all and it is great to hear from you.
Oh yeah, one question, how is BYU basketball doing??
Ok, The Church is true! Don't forget it!
Love,
Kevin
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Howdy Howdy,
It has been a very different week this week. Ridiculously fast, unusually dry, and hot. haha I am guessing rainy season must be over because it doesn't rain much at all now. Good things surabaya is a very big city, with hills and i get to ride a bike! I really enjoy the bike riding in the heat, I think it is helping me slim down. I am anxious to find a scale so i can see if I have lost anything, the problem is that food here is really good and really cheap.
As far as the work goes it has been a pretty rough week. I think my goal is to have an investigator at church once in my time here in surabaya! Our investigators just don't seem to want to come. Donatus and Ita weren't able to meet at all this week so we don't really know what is going on with them, but we are trying to stay hopeful and just keep trying to find more people to teach. A couple of our investigators told us they didn't want to meet anymore and asked us to come pick up the BoM from them when we have a chance. Of course we're not going to, hopefully a few months from now they will find it lying around and read it and be prepared for the Restored Gospel! So that was kind of the extent of meetings with investigators this week.
I went on exchanges on monday and tuesday with some elders in the other house which was super fun. One of them is named Elder Widodo and his area right now is really struggling, they don't have any investigators right now, so we went out and contacted like crazy. It is really hard to contct since we can't really bring up the church, but we ended up talking to about 20 people about the Gospel which was awesome! The funniest one was this guy that was sitting at a warung drinking tea and he yelled "hello mister, where are you from" so we went and talked to him. He asked my name, then I asked his name and in English he replied, "I'm Mr. Crocodile!" and then he opened up his shirt to show his crocodile tattoo on his chest. He has made it into the top 5 weiredest people I have talked to. But he is also Christian and said missionaries can come teach him. so it turned out well.
It sounds like Jeff's thing with Mitt turned out awesome! That is super cool! Hopefully Mitt can get the job done and get elected. Happy birthday to callie as well! That is nuts that she is already 2. Crazy!!!
Mom made a comment about how fun BYU will be with mission buddies. IT is going to be hilarious. we are already making plans! There will be a lot of guys in the Provo area for college so it will be fun, and we will be able to keep up on the language (hopefully).
I guess I will end with a good experience last sunday. I was asked to speak last sunday in sacrament meeting about faith in Jesus Christ, and one of the things I talked about was how Joseph Smith and the First Vision should strengthen our faith in Jesus Christ, especially if we read his testimony in D and C 76 verse 22. I love that scripture because when I read it there is no doubt in my mind that He saw and spoke to Jesus Christ. Christ really does live and love each of us. I remember in the MTC when Richard G. Scott bore his testimony he said that he doesn't believe that Jesus Christ lives, but rather, he knows the Jesus Christ lives. We are led by Prophets and Apostles who speak to the Savior and receive revelation to help us to live happy lives and to receive eternal life after we die. We just need to have faith to live their teachings.
I love you all,
Have a great week!!!
Dengan Kasih,
Kevin
D&C 76:22 And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the atestimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he lives!
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Hey everybody,
Another week has flown by hasn't it! Things are still going about the same in Surabaya. There has been a bunch of moves though yesterday and today so all of the Elders in my house except me moved. My new companion hasn't gotten here yet, but I know his name is Elder Yarkasi and he is from jogjakarta. The other two elders in my house now are Elder Radianto and Earls and then Elder Garnett from my MTC group just moved into the other house here in surabaya so now there are three of the five people in my MTC group here! So that ought to be pretty fun.
As far as the work goes it has been pretty much about the same as last week. We have a few pretty good potential investigators that we will be trying soon so hopefully we will have more people to teach soon. I feel bad I haven't really had much to talk about lately, mostl ikely it will be this way the rest of the mission as well so don't get bored with me! haha
It sounds liek that new member in your ward is awesome! The branch here is trying to get home teaching set up again which will hopefully start helping the members grow. There are many who are still struggling. We are working a lot still with the families out in Sidoarjo. We still have not made a lot of progress with them. Their testimonies just aren't there yet to make the sacrifice to come back to the Church. We had a good opportunity to give a blessing to an inactive member who just had a stroke, her son, Konfernas, is also an inactive member and we have just recently contacted and started meeting with him to try to reactivate him. He is really nice guy, his financial situation makes it very hardo n him to be able to go to church though.
Dad asked about what I usually eat here, I really like to eat tempe penyet which is 4,000 rupiah which is like 50 cents and it is soo good. It is just tempe( I don't know whati ti s in english) sambal, a fried egg and rice. It is sooo good. That is my favorite by far right now. but we eat a lot of nasi campur too which is just rice with noodles, meat or eggs, and other stuff all mixed together. it is really good too and cheap, 6,000 rupiah.
Well, I know that the church is true! I know that the work I am doing is the Lord's work and that these are His children that I am serving and teaching. I know he will prepre hearts to be receive the Gospel and I just have to have stronger faith to find them.
Love you all!
Kevin
I tried to find a few pictures of the meals Kevin has described. I'm not sure these are the exact ones but I thought they gave an idea what the food might look like.
Wednesday, March 07, 2012
Hey hey!
Wow! Sounds like a pretty intense week over there! 20 inches of POW! I am super jealous. Good to hear that Mitt got the W as well in Idaho. I really want to come home to him as president. hehe
Things are going well here, my new comp is the man! He is hilarious. the work is still really slow but he has helped a lot to make it more enjoyable and we are working hard to get it to speed up again. We have been riding all over the place in the past few days and I think things sshould get going here sooner or later. It has been a really humbling experience to serve in this country, that is for sure. It has really strengthened my testimony and helped me understand the importance of working, even when it feels like no difference is being made. There are often days where we have absolutely no clue where to go, but we still just go and try. We go try to find an inactive member or a former investigator and hope that someone along the way will be prepared for the Gospel. As hard as Surabaya has been I would be fine if I never moved from this city the rest of my mission. I know that there are people somewhere in this place the the Lord has prepared. If it weren't so, He wouldn't have sent us as missionaries here.
WE were able to meet with one investigator this week, Ibu yuni, and she is awesome. I love that lady. She is so funny, and has a really good desire to just learn about Christ. She committed to come to church on sunday along with her daughter so I really really hope that will happen.
I got a great couple of emails from Ryan and Laura/ Jeff. Sorry I don't have time to day to reply to those! They were really great though Thanks a bunch!
I hope all of you are doing really great! I love you all so much! I guess the big thing I have learned lately is to just be grateful for all of the blessings we get and also be grateful for the trials! It's all about having a positive attitude!
The Church is true!!
Love,
Kevin
P.S.
the Mission office has my card, so I should have it this week sometime. So next week you can send the PIN.
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Selamat kegilaan Maret! (happy march madness)
Haha it doesn't really translate well but oh well!
It was great to hear from you, and also good to hear that BYU squeaked out a win. awesome! And also sounds like Mitt is still doing ok. he needs to win!
Surabaya is as awesome as ever. It has been pretty rainy lately but it hasn't phased me a bit because of the awesome new rain poncho I got that makes me look totally dorky but it gets the job done. Ibu Yuni came to church on sunday with her daughter and I think it was way different than what they were used to but I think the experience was good for them. Hopefully they will come again this week too. this past week has been one of my favorite weeks in surabaya though, it was just a lot of good work that is starting to result in finding more people. The best experience was on sunday when we went out to look for an inactive members house and we had no idea where it was so we just kept asking for directions and then finally we asked this guy, daniel and his wife where we needed to go and they were heading the same way so we followed them there. As we were going along there was kind of this bump in the road that was hard enough to make my heavy body( which I thought was already a lot lighter) break the bolt in half on my seat. haha That family was really nice though and they helped us get it fixed and it gave us a lot of time to talk with them and invite them to learn about the Gospel and they said we could come share a message. So later this week we will be meeting them. they are a new family and expecting their first child soon. Elder Yarkasi and I were just super stoked about the whole experience because it was awesome! haha
Overall I am doing great, it really is pretty crazy that it has already been 11 months, it doesn't feel like it at all, Yesterday at about noon I realized that it was the 13th and I was like woah, already another month! haha Hopefully these next 13 months can go a little bit more slow! Wow the kids look awesome. So funny! I miss them a bunch! There are a ton of kids in our neighborhood that are super funny and one of them reminds me a ton of maddie and they always come stand in front of our gate and yell at us. haha it is great.
I attached some pictures, one of them is after Elder Yarkasi and I figured out that the pads inside our helmets make awesome fake moustaches, one of them is from about a month ago at a Buddhist temple in Surabaya that we went to for Pday, ( I am not sure if I already sent that) and the last one is a picture with me, Elder Mulyono and some of the teachers at the school we have been doing English service at. That has been a fun English service, and about all of the teachers are Muslim but a lot have been curious with what we do which has given us opportunities to share a little bit about the Church with them. I think I will go ahead and attach a picture of the kids we teach too. They are a combo of 8th, 9th and 10th graders.
Well that is pretty much all I have to say this week! The church is true! I hope you all are continuing to read your scriptures.
Saya mengasihi anda semua!
Kevin
Jakarta Time
