Sugeng Rawun ke Yogya

Great week , I love Jogja! People are going crazy here because of the world cup! Staying up until 3 and 4 in the morning to watch the games and always talking it, it's fun! They are always joking about Indonesia still being in the fight for the world cup haha! So funny story from this week, last Sunday in relief society, the topic was in the priesthood and the teacher asked the class how having the priesthood in their homes has blessed their lives. One sister raised her hand and said that every year on her birthday her husband gives her a priesthood blessing to help her throughout that year. From the point another sister raised her hand and said every year on her birthday she cooks "bak mie" (that's a spicy Indonesian noodle dish). Then another sister yelled from the back "oh for my birthday we do this..." this went of until literally the whole class had shared what they did for their birthday every year hahah. That is a common occurrence in an Indonesian relief society. They will end up on this completely random topic that literally has nothing to do with the lesson haha. And our investigator Ibu Juhartono was in relief society, so me and me companion were kind of disappointed that happened, but it's all good. Anyways, last night we were with out two golden investigators, Pak Juhartono and his wife, Ibu Juhartono, and Ibu Juhartono said " I wish I would have known you were coming, I would have cooked bak mie! Me and Sister Toegono were confused and then she said, "ya, it's my birthday today!" hahah! What's even funnier is after she said that Pak Juhartono was like "what, it's your birthday, I totally forgot!" haha. We love them so much! Their baptism date is next week, please pray for them so they will be ready and everything will go smoothly! 

Yesterday Atin was confirmed and then after church Sister Toegono and I went with her to her friends house to teach her friend...she's already a member missionary! Also, this week Sister Toegono and I got permission from President Donald to go to Kelatin, It is a small town about 2 hours away from Jogja. There is a super strong new member family there, the Winoto's, they've been members for a year, and they have been sharing the gospel like crazy with people in Kelatin. They have been asking missionaries to come out and teach these people and finally we got to go out there and eventually want to start a branch there! This family is seriously so legit, we would just be walking on the street and she was just introducing us to everyone and inviting everyone to church and to learn with us! Anyways we ended up teaching quite a few lessons at their house with there friends that day and we think there is a lot of potential with them! That is how all members should be! This family has seen how much this gospel has blessed their lives and they want to share it with everyone! 

This gospel is true, and the way to peace and happiness in the this life and eternal life in the life to come! I love you all! Have a great week!!!

Love,

Sister Reilly

Yay!

What an awesome week! Our investigator, Atin was baptized this week and it was a miracle. Atin has been an investigator for just about 2 years now, her whole family is Muslim, and getting baptized has been a really hard decision for her. We gave her this week as a goal to be baptized and on Friday night she called off the baptism. This weekend is a big weekend for the Muslim people because they are getting ready their big fast and Atin felt like she needed to go home on Saturday night until Monday to help her family prepare . She has waited for a really long time to be baptized and so many dates have fallen through and my companion and I just knew that this week she needed to be baptized. Sister Toegono and I went to her work on Saturday afternoon and read a few scriptures with her that were really powerful. A scripture came to my mind to share with her in Alma 7:15 

"Yea, I say unto you come and fear not, and lay aside every sin,which easily doth beset you, which doth bind you down to destruction, yea, come and go forth, and show unto your God that ye are willing to repent of your sins and enter into a covenant with him to keep his commandments, and witness it unto him this day by going into the waters of baptism."

We invited her come and fear not. We also invited her to pray right then and ask Heavenly Father to help her to know what she needed to do. Right then her phone rang and it was her brother who called to say that it was no problem if she didn't come home this weekend! It was such a cool experience. The spirit was so strong at her baptism, all the members love her and have been so supportive since she started learning with the missionaries. They were all so happy to see her be baptized! She is going to be an awesome member! God is a god of miracles, He will show us miricles as we put faith in Him! So much happened this week, but I don't have a lot of time so I will explain more about our other investigators next week! Also, we went to a members house this week and I was playing the guitar with them and then on Sunday one of the brothers brought one of his guitars to church for me to take to our house and play, it was awesome! So our house has been playing the guitar and singing together, it's been fun! I love youuuu!

Love,

Sister Reilly

The spirit is the KEY!

This week flew bye! Awesome week! This week we had zone conference and it was so good! My favorite thing was a challenge President Donald gave us, a while ago he challenged us to give the baptismal commitment in the first lesson, and this week he challenged us at the end of lessons to ask if we can kneel and pray with our investigators and ask them to pray and ask Heavenly Father right then if our message is true, then when we are kneeling to read a scripture, either D&C 8:2, Moroni 10:4 or 2 Nephi 31 where the Savior says "follow though me..." I love D&C 8:2... 2 Yea, behold, I will tell you in your mind and in your heart, by the Holy Ghost, which shall come upon you and which shall dwell in your heart. 

Me and my companion have been doing this and the spirit is so strong! When our investigators truly have a desire to know the truth, and pray with a sincere heart, their prayers will be answered. I think one of the biggest things I have learned on my mission is the power of praying with faith. God lives and he hears us. He loves us and wants to bless us, as we humble ourselves and turn to Him, he will pour out blessings upon us. The spirit is the key to everything we do everyday as missionaries, I have never felt God's love for me and His children more in my life, I love my mission and I am so grateful for the opportunity to serve my Father in Heaven! I love you all!! 

Love, 

Sister Reilly

The last picture is frog...yum!

Great week!

Great Week!! I am going to be honest, my first maybe 5 days here I was a feeling little bummed because I left Malang where we had so many awesome things happening, I was just so happy there and then I moved to Jogja where we only had 2 semi-progressive investigators and not much going on, but I was also just excited to help get the work going here. I don't think I've seen so many miracles in one week before! My companion and I have just been fasting and praying that the Lord would lead us to those who are ready to receive the gospel and He did just that! Some of the first couple days here were probably some of the longest days of my mission so far, just proselyting like crazy...but it payed off! We were led to people who honestly understood our message and felt the truth of it. We went from 2 semi-progressive investigators to 6 people with a baptismal date! Yesterday testimony meeting was so amazing, the members here are so awesome and the spirit was so strong, all of our investigators that came to church felt it and felt something different about our church. I know this church is the Lords church and we cannot be afraid to open our mouths and share it with everyone. Don't stop someone else from being saved because you are too afraid to open your mouth and share this truth with them :) Invite all to come and partake of the fruit! I love being a missionary so much, there is nothing better than the feeling that comes when we share this gospel with others and see it change their lives. If you want to truly be happy, forget about yourself and go serve others!

I love these scriptures from Mark 10... 

29 And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel’s,

30 But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses,and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands,with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life.

31 But many that are first shall be last; and the last first.

43 ...but whosoever will be great among you, shall be your minister:

44 And whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all.

45 For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

I know that is true, as we give up things for the Savior, we are blessed an hundredfold and If we truly want to be great, we should be servant to others.I love my mission and I love you allll!

Love,

Sister Reilly

{Ps. this is from one of Sidney's personal letters to her dad}

Check out this email I got this week...pretty cool! 

Hi Sister Reilly,

Do you remember that girl you sat by on the plane, when you were heading to Indonesia from Salt Lake? You were just leaving the MTC, I believe...well, hello again. It's me. Luckily since our sisters know each other I was able to kind of track you down. In the least creepy way possible:)

I actually have really been wanting to write you for a while. When I last talked to you, I'm pretty sure I told you I was an inactive member of the church. At that time, I was farther from the church and from God than I had ever been. I was going through some hard things. And I remember seeing you and the other missionaries. And seeing how happy you guys were... I wanted that. A little over a month after I talked to you, I ended up returning to the church. I changed everything in my life that didn't align with the gospel. And I am so happy because of it. I am so grateful. I feel so guided. And I feel so blessed. Which brings me to....I just turned in my mission papers! I thought that'd be cool for you to know and for some reason I really wanted to tell you! I am unbelievably thrilled to be a missionary. It's all I think about. Time cannot possibly move slower right now. But I cannot wait to serve and share the gospel.

I hope you're doing really well! I hope your experiences as a missionary are being so rewarding. I did just want to tell you that you played a part in bringing me back to the church. Even though I only talked to you for an hour, somehow you were a great influence. Like a planted seed. Thank you for that! Good luck in Indonesia Sister Reilly! I wish you the best! Stay safe!

Sincerely,
Angelica