Another week in paradise! We have had a busy week,that's for sure! On Monday we helped one of the Sisters' investigators move houses in the morning, then played basketball, and emailed,and did other stuff, then taught 2 lessons. One was with a kid named F. He is Islam. But he committed to baptism on the 14th of March! So that is pretty exciting!
Tuesday was MLC, which was awesome! President always has way cool things to say to inspire us and direct the mission in the way it needs to go! It is so cool to have the opportunity to sit in on that meeting and participate! Such a blessing! In this one we talked a lot about become full purpose missionaries--not just finding and teaching an baptizing, but also reactivating and retaining, and how to make all of those things work together to be most successful! About how doing one of those things, we can make it have a positive effect on all other aspects of our work, and that we need to focus to do all 5 of those things!
The rest of the week we were busy with lessons, teaching investigators and stuff. And we had to prepare our lesson for Zone meeting, which was on Friday. The meeting went pretty well and I think the message got across well. The missionaries seemed to enjoy it! That has always been one of the hardest things for me--teaching something that everyone already knows, but doing it in a way that will keep their interest and inspire them to do it. I think we are getting slowly better at it. But it is definitely a good learning experience!
As far as investigators go, Pak B is still smoking a little bit. He has cut back a lot. So he is still working at it. And he went to the doctor this week, and the doctor told him that he can't smoke any more or he is at high risk of having a stroke. So hopefully that will help him to stop, because we definitely don't want him to have a stroke! But look, the gospel is true! Pak M is still doing OK. He has cut back a lot on coffee and has pretty much stopped now. But there are a few other things that we are working through with him to get him fully ready for baptism! But I think it will still be happening pretty soon!
D, the African guy, is awesome! He had to move this week, so we weren't able to meet with him too much. But we met with him on Sunday night, along with like 5 other friends. It was a very interesting lesson, because there were 2 people who only spoke French, 2 who spoke Indonesian, David who speaks pretty good English and French, and us, who speak English and Indonesian. So there was a lot of translating going on back and forth. And two of the people in the lesson were Islam. So we taught a simple lesson about Jesus Christ and the Atonement. And all of them liked it and are interested in learning more and coming to church. And there were a few other of their friends that we met that night that are interested in coming to church. D is awesome, thought! He is giving tons of referals and still soaking everything in like a sponge! Last night, he reminded us about his baptismal date for next week before we had the chance to bring it up. But sadly it cannot happen yet, because he is still living with his girlfriend because they can't afford two apartments he says. But he promised us that ever since we gave the commitment to live the law of chastity on our first meeting, they have been chaste. He hasn't even kissed her on the lips! And he was under the impression that that would be good enough given his circumstances. It was really hard to tell him no, because we could see how bummed he was about it. But he took it well, and said that if it is God's command,then he has no right to change it! So he will wait and keep working for a solution! He is so cool!
Well, that is most of the best information from this week! Elder Barlow is my companion right now. He is from Bountiful. I think his mom said she knows mom, and that dad went to high school with his aunt or something. But he is cool and we have been getting along well! Exhausted! but happy!
I love you all and hope you have a great week!
Love Elder Wood
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