Hey, how's it going? Thanks for the letters this week!
So this week was pretty good! We had some great appointments! And we got 14 lessons in with investigators this week! We met the mission standard of excellence in Tangerang! That is the first time that has happened since I have been here in Tangerang! Usually we hover around 10 and max at like 12, so this week was a really good one!
Brother W is doing well! He is still coming to church and seems like he is progressing! It is baby steps, but it is coming! One day it will just click for him, I'm sure! And he knows it too!
This week we also had 3 investigators at church, which is like a record here, too! The Lord is really blessing and hastening his work! So that was super exciting! They all seemed to really enjoy it, too! And it made Gospel Principles class amazing! President Donald and an area 70 were also visiting the ward that day, so they were there to meet them all, and President Donald sat in on Gospel Principles. Since so many people were new, we started with just doing some introductions. And, of their own volition, the investigators each shared their testimony when they were introducing themselves, and the Spirit was super strong! Pak M said he was really considering baptism in this church, Mama V said how much she liked it here, and that in any other church she just didn't feel that it "clicked" it just wasn't quite right. Then Brother W cried as he shared his experiences and hopes, and the Spirit was so strong! Then President Donald shared his testimony and conversion story! It was just an amazing spiritual high, and I think all of us, including the investigators, were touched by it! And they all want to come back again next week! So that is exciting! What a great day at church!
Then on Sunday night, all our appointments had fallen through. So we were frantically calling all our contacts to see if anyone could meet. We got one guy, but when we showed up, he wasn't home. We rode all around his neighborhood, trying to contact other people, but had no success. Then we went back to his house, and he was home and let us in. He talked at us for an hour or so about Jesus and stuff, then finally we got a chance to talk. We thought it was just going to be a "this is good information." but that's it sort of thing, but turns out that the spirit touched him and he really was interested to know if these things are true, wants to read the Book of Mormon, and wants to meet again next week! So that was super exciting!
Then we had one other appointment with a guy we met in front of his house a week ago, and talked to for 30 seconds or less, and he told us to come back Sunday evening. We didn't even get his phone number. But we figured we'd try it out. Well, we show up, and someone answers the door and asks what we're doing. We say that we had an appointment with the guy, and are told that he wasn't there. He asked us where we were from, and we said the church, and he invited us in. Turns out that the guy that let us in is the guy we were looking for's little brother (still like 25 years old, though). He was shocked that his brother would want to talk to us, becuase his brother is Agnostic and never wants to talk about religion...at all. So he was like, "What did you say to him or share with him that he would even invite you back at all?" We told him that we had showed him the Book of Mormon, and he was interested to know what it was and made a return appointment with us. So now, this guy we were talking to, the little brother was really interested. So we taught him the first lesson right there. He used to be agnostic as well, but a few years ago became Catholic. But he absolutely absorbed everything we said, and the spirit was really strong. At the end, we asked if he had any questions, and the first thing he said was, "I want to come to your church. Can I?" Of course we said yes, and he said he is going to come next week! So that is awesome! And we then gave him the baptismal commitment, and he said that after he reads and prays, if he gets an answer he will be baptized! There were so many other cool things that went on in that lesson, but it was absolutely amazing! And as we were leaving, we asked him if he would be sure to read the Book of Mormon this week. He said, "I'm going to go read it right now!" It was amazing! So cool and so prepared! And the Lord totally prepared the day to lead us there, because there were several other things that we had prioritized over that meeting, but they just didn't work out for one reason or the other, and the Lord led us there! He really is the one directing this work!
Well, that is about it for this week! It was a good one and the upcoming week looks pretty good, too! Hope you all have a good week! I love you all! Talk to you soon!
Love, Elder Wood
