Motivation and culture
Date
July 8, 2018
Area
Surakarta
Companion
Elder Doud
Motivation and culture
Most of this week was taken up by preparation for zone conference and then zone conference. We had 8 extra elders sleeping in our house, with only one bathroom. Trying to get 12 elders showered in the morning before zone conference at 8:00 was an adventure. At zone conference we met President Mackay, who is awesome. He's really cool and really cares about all the missionaries. Most of zone conference was getting to know our new president, and we had a lot of training in contacting. As a result, Elder Doud and I spent all day on Friday walking around Solo and talking to people.
While we were walking around, we happened to come across a wayang, or traditional Javanese puppet show. he entire wayang was performed live, with a full gamelan there. Even though we couldn't understand what they were saying (since it's all in Javanese), it was awesome to watch for a while.
Other than that, our week wasn't incredibly interesting. there was just a lot of walking around and talking to people. We've started taking note of the weird stuff people carry on the backs of scooters. the most impressive was a guy carrying 6 tables on a scooter. Also, if something is too long and extends beyond the back of the truck that's carrying it, they'll just stick a plastic bag on the end of it, so that you can see it. Similarly, when a but or truck is parked on the side of the road, they stick a branch with leaves on it on the vehicle, I guess as a way helping people see it. Indonesia is really weird, but totally awesome.
For personal study, I've been reading through the missionary reference library. I finished both "Our Search For Happiness" and "Our Heritage" this week, both of which are awesome. One thing President Mackay has really been focusing on is "Apakah anda bersemangat?", which translates to "are you excited?". The idea behind it is that if we're excited about the work, it will come easier. Something I've been focusing on a lot recently is trying to really love the people here. Someone shared a quote in zone conference that goes "treat a man as he is, and he will remain as he is. treat a man as he could be, and he will become as he should be". Every time we talk to someone, we try to imagine them in baptismal clothes. Elder Smith (one of our APs) said that we should "jump to land", meaning we should think about the end from the beginning.
I'm so grateful to be serving the Lord here in Indonesia, and am excited to help the people here learn about the gospel.
Elder Marr
While we were walking around, we happened to come across a wayang, or traditional Javanese puppet show. he entire wayang was performed live, with a full gamelan there. Even though we couldn't understand what they were saying (since it's all in Javanese), it was awesome to watch for a while.
Other than that, our week wasn't incredibly interesting. there was just a lot of walking around and talking to people. We've started taking note of the weird stuff people carry on the backs of scooters. the most impressive was a guy carrying 6 tables on a scooter. Also, if something is too long and extends beyond the back of the truck that's carrying it, they'll just stick a plastic bag on the end of it, so that you can see it. Similarly, when a but or truck is parked on the side of the road, they stick a branch with leaves on it on the vehicle, I guess as a way helping people see it. Indonesia is really weird, but totally awesome.
For personal study, I've been reading through the missionary reference library. I finished both "Our Search For Happiness" and "Our Heritage" this week, both of which are awesome. One thing President Mackay has really been focusing on is "Apakah anda bersemangat?", which translates to "are you excited?". The idea behind it is that if we're excited about the work, it will come easier. Something I've been focusing on a lot recently is trying to really love the people here. Someone shared a quote in zone conference that goes "treat a man as he is, and he will remain as he is. treat a man as he could be, and he will become as he should be". Every time we talk to someone, we try to imagine them in baptismal clothes. Elder Smith (one of our APs) said that we should "jump to land", meaning we should think about the end from the beginning.
I'm so grateful to be serving the Lord here in Indonesia, and am excited to help the people here learn about the gospel.
Elder Marr
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