Great week!! We have some of the most awesome investigators right now! First off Pak Yakub. We met him proselyting by asking on of his neighbors if she knew anyone who needed any help that lived around that area and right away she pointed us to his moms house and told us that her husband just died and she was having a really hard time. We met with her and Pak Yakub joined the lesson about half was through. We shared the Book of Mormon and the a set an appointment to come back and that night he texted us and asked if there was life after death and if we would be able to meet our family again...we were pretty stoked. On our next appointment he had read all of what we gave him to read and have a huge page full of awesome questions! Each lesson him and his mom have the best questions and have such a sincere desire to learn. When we taught them the plan of salvation I could just see how much sense it made to them and how much hope it gave them for their father/husband who recently passed away. The mom is about 80 years old and is still suuuper sharp, she answers questions perfectly and just gets it! Yesterday he and his son came to church and loved it! His son is 9 and is also really smart and was asking questions in church and loving it. Ah, they are so awesome! His wife used to be muslim and just followed Pak Yakub after they got married and became Christian, so she's sill kind of confused with it all, but we are trying to work with her and get her to join in on the lessons and come to church also. Okay, Mas Hendra and his family! Long story short, I contacted his brother on the bus about a month and a half ago and then a few weeks ago I just had this feeling to call him. We set up an appointment and went to his house and met all the family. He is muslim, but the rest of his family is Christian. His brother, Hendra is super sharp and has so many questions about the Book of Mormon and an awesome desire to find the truth! Last week the family called us to come to the hospital because one of the sisters had her baby earlier that morning. She was planning on having the baby normally, but because she is so small and skinny they had to do a c-section and hat makes the hospital bills more expensive. They told us that they just did not have the money to pay the bills, and said that they had faith that if we prayed with them, somehow God would provide a way for them. Hendra told us "I know that you told me if I read the Book of Mormon, it would help me with the challenges in my life...and I believe that, but I don't think I'm going to have time to read the whole book by the time we have to pay this bill, so what should we do?" hah. We all went into this tiny hospital room and knelt to pray together, the mom asked me to pray and my heart was pounding so hard. I offered the prayer and just felt such a confidence that with their faith, the Lord would provide a way for their family. Sister Jibson and I started a fast after we left and we have been praying for them everyday..please pray for them! It is so hard to not be able to just give people money...that is seriously one of the hardest things here. You see these people that just have nothing and just want to give them everything you have, but then on the other hand, it is so much more great when you help them have faith and see how the Lord blesses them because of their faithfulness. The hospital bill is $60. To us that seems like nothing, but to a family here, that is everything. Okay, maybe for today I will just share about those two families and next week I will talk about some of our other investigators. I am going to start making a list at the end of my emails of people to pray for, and it you remember, please pray for them :) Sorry this email is so long! My mission is amazing, my companion is awesome, the language is great, and the church is true!! Last week I gave a talk in the Blitar sacrament meeting on developing a testimony and this week I was asked to give a talk in sacrament on KASIH (love). One of the things I used in my talk was how in 3 Nephi11 the Savior has the multitude come up one by one, until the every person in the multitude and felt the prints on his hands. Later is 3 Nephi 17 he blesses and prays for the children one by one. The Savior is the perfect example of of love. He knows and loves each of us, individually, more than we could ever comprehend. Everyday we should be trying to develop the kind of love that he has. Pray for opportunities to serve others. When we are serving others, we are serving God and our capacity to love increases. I have seen a specific change in my life in this short time I have been out on my mission, as I have been devoting all my time to serving the Lord and serving others, I just have this love for people and a desire to help them. I have a long way to go, I am so far from perfect, but I have a testimony that with the Savior and his atonement we can truly be changed and become better than we ever could on our own. I love you all and am so thankful for your love and prayers!
Keep it classy,
Love,
Sister Reilly
People to pray for:
Hendra and his family
Isaak Yakub and his family
Agnus
Ibu Diah
Ibu Ulo
Maria
Heru
Sister Norsium
Sister Sriwahyuni
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