Whitney

So today I hit 3 months in Indo! I feel like the language is picking up more, I hardly ever speak in English except for when we go to the English Branch on Sunday mornings or I’m talking to Sister Hewlett. Sister Mongan hit her 16 months today…she’s excited, to say the least. Everyone always asks her first how much longer she has and then they ask me…haha. I reply, “saya masih punya kekekalan!” (“I still have eternity”) and they just laugh. But really, I’m okay with that. I love it here and I’m immersing myself in the work and the culture which makes things a lot easier, I think. I’ve seen other missionaries that just refuse to accept this amazing culture and they’re having a really rough time. For example, Indonesians run on what we call in English, “rubber time”. When they say they’ll be somewhere at 6pm, that really means 7 or 7:30pm. And that’s usually WITHOUT traffic or if there’s rain. If there’s rain, it’s no surprise if they don’t show up at all. Now we can react to a situation like this in two ways: either get mad and frustrated and have a bad attitude, OR know that you did all you could and you’ll have to just meet them another time. I choose the latter. It saves a lot of stress and makes things easier for you and your companion.
Anyway, we had a small but cool miracle happen recently! These past couple of weeks we’ve been teaching a new investigator named Ibu Dewi. She’s Christian and already has a very strong testimony of Christ. Her husband is Muslim but he’s okay with her taking the lessons. We’ve met with her at least 4 times, but the second time we went she said she’d lost her glasses and wasn’t able to read the Book of Mormon. This week we’d been praying and praying that she’d find her glasses. A few days ago her husband was driving (for his work) and he saw someone drop something and then drive away. At first he thought it was a cell phone, but no one went to pick it up so he went to see what it was. It was a glasses case but the glasses weren’t inside. He looked around to find the glasses and saw them lying in the middle of the road with cars and motor bikes passing by. He thought for sure they’d be broken but when he picked them up they were in perfect condition! So he took them home and gave them to Ibu Dewi and they just happened to be the right prescription and everything! We were so happy and it was just another testimony to me that Heavenly Father answers our prayers. I’m still doing well; I come home every night so tired (whether from the heat and humidity or from walking around and teaching all day, who knows) but I take that as a good sign. Oh, 2 bits of news: 1) In the beginning of March I’ll most likely be taking a trip to Singapore. Apparently they had some visa problems (originating from Salt Lake) so we have to take care of that. They’re hoping it’ll only be a week, but it could take up to a month. We’re not allowed to go out and sight-see at all (and you’re not allowed to proselyte in Singapore anyways), President made it sound like we’ll be in doors all day, studying. I’ll let you know more details when I find out more myself. 2) So…I have another kidney stone. But no worries, this one is apparently really small and about ready to come out. The USG results from before said that all the fragments (from the previously destroyed stone) had come out, but I think this one somehow didn’t come up on the USG. This past Saturday morning I woke up fine but around 7:30am I started feeling sore on that same side where I had the previous kidney stone. We all thought it was from me washing my clothes by hand and sitting in the same position for too long, so after personal study I went to lay down for a bit. The soreness persisted and even got worse, but I didn’t want to go to the hospital again. Around 11am, I went to the bathroom and was about to walk out the door when the pain hit really bad. Way worse than the first time. My eyes got blurry and I thought I was going to faint! It was crazy! So I called to the sisters and I ended up having to go to the hospital again. But I’m fine now! I have pain killers and everything’s good. From that experience I learned to appreciate when my body is functioning normally and is not in constant pain…and I never would have thought of that before. I’m still learning new things every day…my testimony is strengthened every time I share it. I know that God loves us so much that He sent His Son to earth to endure more than He has ever asked us to experience. Christ is literally our Savior. Salvation can only be found through His infinite Atonement, and through living the gospel of Jesus Christ. I know that by so doing we will not only receive blessings and happiness in this life, but also in the life to come.
I hope you all are doing well, remember to appreciate the “little” things in life!
I love you!