Hey everyone!
So this week has been pretty awesome and eventful and productive! Really one of the best weeks of my mission so far I think! It was awesome! I wish I had more time to tell you all about every part of it, but I am running a little low on time for all that, so I will hit the key points.
So, this week we went out and taught Ibu M again. This time we taught her 2 daughters as well. We taught them the Plan of Salvation and they understood and liked it, and all 3 of them committed to be baptized on Feb. 2! So we are praying that all will work out so that it can happen that quickly! They have had to go to Jakarta this week to help some family move because of the flooding, so we haven't been able to meet with them as much as we would like, but they are coming back this week and we are hoping to go out there and teach them again on Wednesday. They are so awesome and are a miracle find and a blessing from heaven!
Later that same day, Tuesday, we went to visit an eternal investigator, Mas P. He has been learning for 8 years and has a testimony that the church is true, but hasn't wanted to or been able to be baptized yet because he has a smoking problem. Well, we went out and visited him for the first time in over a month because Elder Wintolo had a prompting to go give him the baptismal commitment. So we went out there. He has a job now, and is so different from the last time we saw him. And we gave him the baptismal commitment, he accepted for the 16th of February, and for the first time gave us a firm commitment that he would quit smoking. So hopefully that works out, too!
Also this week, Sister A. and her daughter came back to church for the first time in over a month, so that was awesome! And we were able to have a quick lesson after church. She still has a strong testimony, but still does not have permission from her husband to get baptized. So we have been fasting for her and our other investigators. Hopefully later this week we can get out to her house and meet with her husband and teach him and soften his heart!
And then we went to a member that hasn't been able to come to church for several weeks because she has been sick. Her husband was there and we were able to talk to him for the first time, too. He was baptized many years ago, but nobody knows if he was ever confirmed, because he immediately went inactive. He has a problem with drinking and smoking. But we had been told before that he wants to quit, but is having a hard time. So the other night, we focused the lesson on him a little bit and read 1 Nephi 3:7 and some other verses and talked about the Word of Wisdom, and he is starting to open up to us a little bit, and we are hoping to be able to keep working with him to help him get active again and overcome smoking and drinking!
And we have one more cool new investigator. He is actually currently running for what would be the Indonesian equivalent of U.S. Senator, so a national office. You know, just running with the rich and the famous.
So I did have an entertaining, but rather unfortunate event happen this week...I got peed on... Ya, that wasn't the best night. So we were at that 9 year old ADHD kid's house that we have been teaching. Well, he is incredibly hyperactive, and for some reason likes to climb all over me, which I don't terribly enjoy. But ya, the other night when we were over there, he wasn't paying any attention to the lesson at all, so that was getting frustrating. Then he comes over to me and I'm sitting in a chair. Well, he walks up and straddles my left leg and sits down on my left thigh. It was already pretty awkward just that, so I started gently pushing him off of me. Well, once I got him off of me I realized that my pants were darker where he had been sitting and I could feel that they were damp through to my thigh. Then I looked at him and his pants were all wet. Well, I wasn't too excited or pleased about the whole situation. But I didn't really know what to do about it either. I don't know if his mom just didn't notice or if she was to embarrassed or what, but she didn't say anything. Well, I tried to just act natural and finish the lesson and get out of there. Needless to say as soon as we got home that night I washed my pants and took a shower. But ya, that was the weirdest, nastiest thing that happened this week. Other than that, it was all good.
I am loving it here. My companion and I are really getting along well and getting to have a really good relationship, and we both push each other to work harder and to be better, so that is awesome! We have started doing a lot more proselyting lately, too, which is good! And we got in 17 lessons this week, which I think is an all-time high for me so far! So we are really doing well right now! I'm glad that you are all doing well, too! Thanks for the pictures! I love you all so much! I hope you have a great week! I will be sending some letters and that flash disk off in the next week or two, so hopefully that all gets to you soon! I love you! Give everyone else my love, too!
Love, Elder Wood
