Most Beautiful Mission in the World!

This last week was chock full of small little miracles that added up, much like the tiny flecks of gold in the ol' prospector's pouch. Can I just list them? It's easier that way.

- Aleks is getting baptized on February 1 now instead of the 8th! Because of that crazy Air Asia plane crash, all Air Asia flights have been suspended till further notice or something. His parents were planning on going to Melbourne for a business trip on January 31, but you know what their flight was? Air Asia. So they're not going now till the 8th. Which means they can come to his baptism and Elder Simanungkalit will still be here to see it. We taught him from Elder Oaks talk about how to live in the world with differences. "Loving Others and Living with Differences"

- Do you remember Rony and Toyo from Medan? Well, Toyo and his mom, Mary, moved to Aceh for some reason, leaving Rony in Medan. (It's kinda crazy up there in Batak land.) According to the elders, he was just living in the old house.  But they tried swinging by his house one day, and there was just dirt. Apparently the house had been leveled a couple days ago. They had no contact with him. And in a place like Indonesia, that's a very easy thing to do. Elder Barlow told me of the situation through a phone call when he called in his stats, and I began praying that the situation would turn out OK. And that Rony would come back to church. Well, Elder Barlow informed me yesterday that Rony woke up and felt like he had to go to church. So he put on his white shirt and tie, rode an angkot the hour and a half there, and attended church and wants to become active again. That made my day!

- Brother R, a new member we're working with, paid his tithing for the first time. He used to be Muslim and his entire family is still Muslim. But he's one of the most active members in the Harmoni ward. 

- We were sitting with S P (a new investigator) and S (a new Chinese investigator) at church yesterday when all of a sudden, members started poking us in the back asking if we knew the two Papuan young men who just walked in. We did! We had met these two Papuans on a busway last Thursday, gave them a Kitab Mormon, and invited them to come to church with us. They didn't pick up their phones earlier before church, so the fact they were able to find the Harmoni church on their own was astounding! They want to get baptized, but will be going to Surabaya soon because they work on a fishing ship. Or something like that. Nonetheless, we're stoked. The Lord is truly hastening his work wherever He has missionaries. We're just His tools. 

- I've been sick with a sore throat and stuffy nose this last week, but we still were able to find and teach a new family of 5. We had an address of someone who had wanted to meet before, but his phone number was no good anymore. He lived close enough, so we trekked out to his house on foot and ran into his not-so-excited wife. The guy's name is David, and he wasn't home at the time, but we called him using his new number and he came home right away. He was so excited to receive a Kitab Mormon and while teaching the first lesson he received a baptismal commitment. Which his wife immediately replied with "Kamu sudah dibaptis!" or "You've already been baptized!" After a few awkward moments of what David was actually getting himself into, and after some explaining by us, he still wanted to get baptized, and even his wife wanted to as well! They have 3 little kids and they actually live closer to the Tebet church, so we gave their information to the Elders there. 

Beautiful weather here in Jakarta!

I've said this before, but I get to serve in the most beautiful mission in the whole world. It was about 75 degrees, with a cool coastal breeze, and sunny the entire week last week. It was aaaawesome. I'm gonna truly miss this place when the missionary department says I have to go. (I still don't know when that will be.)

We taught this man named Chris. He's from Oklahoma, but somehow found his way to Indonesia, married a Manadonese woman, and has three kids. He's learned with the missionaries before, but he had a really cool story. Long story short, he got me thinking a lot more about my own personal testimony of Jesus Christ. I really am out here for Him. I'm not trying to score heavenly points in this eternal contest, but out of gratitude and love for what He's done for me, I'm out here for Him. Just a thought.

Hope everybody has a great week! 

Elder Seth Barrus

PS Thanks for the sheet music. I'm printing it off as we speak and we might sing it at the next zone conference. 

That's so weird Natalie's already home, I guess just because I wasn't around to see her off. Tell her hi for me. 

I sent Nate an email today. Yikes. That's pretty scary to hear about his dad. Nate comes home in April, about a month before I do. (No. I didn't check on my release date yet. President is in Bali this week with Sister Donald, so we probably won't get to ask him this week either. Or next week because of PLD's.)