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