Rain, Rain, Rain

Hello!
Yeah it rained a lot this week! For like 3 days straight it rained and rained. Indonesians have this strange fear of rain, it is like poison that will get them sick, especially if it gets on their head. As for me though, I am fine in the rain, just get a little wet haha. But when it rains it makes it hard to meet with people because they don't want to go out. So we made due with what we had. We were still able to met with some of our Investigators tho. So this week was kind of a less productive week but I am sure this next week will be blazing hot like usual so we should be fine.

Some people from the mission office came to Manado yesterday to check out the new church building and all that, I knew one of them from my service in Jakarta.

We played Futsal on Thursday and I have noticed that I am actually not that bad anymore at soccer haha, it was fun and we had a new investigator come play with us, he is a friend of a new member.

On Saturday we had a family night gathering thing with some of the members, it was fun and I gave the lesson about The Gospel of Jesus Christ (Faith, Repentance, Baptism, Gift of the Holy Ghost, and Enduring to the End). It was a good lesson of course and I ate a lot of food afterwards.

There is an inactive couple who we visit every week, they live on a house on stilts and have like 6 dogs and a cat. They are nice but have a hard time going to church because the husband works a lot. Well yesterday they went to church together! That was the first time they have been to church together since I have been here and it was awesome! The husband got a new job I guess and it looks like it will be easier for them to go to church now. Good stuff!

My new mission president will come in on the 29th of June. He will only be my mission president for a month though.

Well I hope everyone has a great week!
-Elder Hymas

A family home evening activity

Us with Mama Lang (Branch President's wife)

New Church Building

Hello! This week we moved into the new church building. We weren't planning on moving this week but the church offices in Jakarta called the branch president here and told him that they have to move this week so we worked hard to get the new place ready for Sunday. I helped out a lot with lifting the heavy objects up the stairs because I am two times larger than the average Indonesian. Needless to say they were happy I was there. The new place is newer and a bit bigger, it is not as close to the ocean anymore though.
We met with some new investigators this week, one is a referral from a member and he is cool. He wants to find the right path, because he knows from experience that there is a lot of wrong ones and they are easy to find. I was really hoping he would come to church this week but he didn't come, but no worries, we shall meet with him again!
Another one we met at Alfamart a few weeks ago, we met with him and his wife at their house, we brought a member along too which helped a lot. Him and his wife accepted our message and it was a great lesson. He was Muslim like 11 years ago but then changed to Christian, he wants to go to church with us, he couldn't go yesterday because his kid was having a birthday party, but he said he will go next week. I hope they come!
A member had a birthday party a few days ago and invited us, they had a wide assortment of meat available haha I don't really know what they all were. They also had a nice pig head there too yummy! Would you have eaten it??

I know this church is true and I love being a missionary! See you in 38 more days ;)
-Elder Hymas

The new church building

 pig head

Sister Norma's birhtday

a huge spider in the back of our house

Pantai Pal

Today we went to a beach called Pantai Pal, it was a super awesome beach we had it pretty much all to ourselves. The water was so clear and blue, and the sand was soft and white. There are not many beaches like that in Colorado that is for sure! I haven't eaten yet today though and it is 4:20 PM here, so I am pretty hungry and will most likely eat something after we email. Earlier this week we met with some investigators and members. We didn't get blown off as much this week as we did last week so that's good.
We had a referral a few days ago and they lived in Amurang, which is pretty far from Manado. It is a good hour and a half car ride to get there but we met with the referral there and it is a family. They liked our message and want to read the Book of Mormon. The only problem for them might be to get to church in the morning because they life pretty far from the church. Hopefully this obstacle won't be to tough from them to overcome.
We also met with another investigator again who also lives far away from Manado in a small village in the jungle called Lolah. He is super super smart and we had a great lesson with him. We watched the short Restoration video and then taught the Plan of Salvation. We ended up talking about some pretty deep doctrine as well because he is so smart and asks good questions. His challege will be to come to church in Manado in the mornings as well.
I am working on talking to more people on the road as I go along. I am not the best at talking to strangers, but I know the Lord will be with me and support me. Have a great week!
-Elder Hymas

Manado is not the place to diet.

Hello!

This week was a pretty good one. Elder Setijawan and I worked hard like usual. We have had a lot of our appointments flake out on us this week. Yeah that is a normal part of missionary life but this week we had a lot of investigators flake out on us for some reason. And then when we try to call them they never answer their phone or anything. It probably happened like 6 times this week, toward the end of the week we were pretty annoyed but ya such is life. It is tough going somewhere to meet someone and then they never come and you wait and they still never come and you call them and their phone is inactive and then you are confused haha. Well It has tested my patience and love but I think that I am a better person because of it. Hopefully this week we shall be able to meet with more of them because I really really want to help them and teach them about this wonderful gospel and it hurts when they don't meet with us.

We went to a member appointment a few days ago and they gave us a lot of food, like usual. I told them I was trying to eat less and watch my weight and then the member said to me that he wants to make a plaque that says "Manado is not the place to diet" haha it is true because the food is so good and the members always give us so much when we go to their house. So yeah I ended up eating a lot of rice and fish at that member's house. Hopefully I can fit in my new suit when I go home.

We are in the processes of moving church buildings. So there is no doors, sounds system and other decorations at the church right now as they are moving it all to the new place. Pretty excited because the new place is bigger because the Manado Branch is getting bigger.

So we meet this guy from Papua the other day and he came to church yesterday with his friend. They were cool and want to learn more. People from Papua are pretty different from other Indonesians but they are all nice and Christian. There are a lot of Papua people here for college.

Have a great week!
-Elder Hymas-

A big fly

How indonesians fill up their motorbikes with gas

waiting in the bathroom...

Mountain in the distance

Koha

Koha

Indonesian Baby

The Papuans and I

2 other investigators and I

The power of commitments

This week was great, we met with and taught a lot of new investigators this week. We taught them the message of the Restoration with the Spirit and boldly invited them to be baptized. This week we helped 3 people make the commitment to be baptized and set a goal with them. We don't have to be scared or nervous to give investigators the commitment to be baptized, especially when it is the first time meeting with them. Baptism is what missionaries want to help the investigator accomplish. We should often speak about it and put it into the investigator's mind. If we never invited them to act or make commitments, they won't be able to repent and come unto God. I have gotten a lot better at helping my investigator make commitments and that has blessed my mission. We brought a new member named Rilly along with us to help us teach. His added testimony was essential in the lesson and make the meeting so much better. Members make all the different in lessons! Lately it is easier to get my investigators to make the baptismal commitment than to get them to come to church. Satan just makes it soooo hard for investigators to come to church, it is tough.
A few days ago the power went out on the whole north half of the Island. It went out in the afternoon and didn't turn back on until about midnight. That was a fun experience. People where using candles to light up their houses and restaurants. The power often goes out in Manado so a lot of people have generators. Our water does not work if we don't have any power and when we got home there was only a little water left in our tub, so we took really short showers and I ended up trying to sleep in the cold floor because the A/C can't turn on. But then the power came back and we quickly turned on the A/C and were able to sleep. A fun experience. I heard that before I got here the power once went off for 3 days, that was probably not to fun haha. Electricity is a blessing. Well I hope everyone has a great week!

The Church building in Manado

- Elder Hymas

Food that I ate...

Sunsets on the Ocean

Hello, this week was great. We have some new investigators with potential but they are still new so hopefully as we keep meeting with them they will progress more. This week I went on Splits with Elder Shaner on Wednesday and Elder Lieske on Friday, I went to their area for both of the splits. While I was with them we went to this place in the middle of the jungle. It was really cool and like nothing I have ever seen before. Just straight up jungle all around you, pretty sweet. A few days ago Elder Setijawan and I when up a mountain to a village with a few members, we stayed a little later than planned and the public transportation was already done going down the mountain for the day... so we ended up having to walk down and down and down until we got to a place where we could hop on another angok. But on the way down we saw a really awesome sunset over the ocean so it made the trip worth it, it was like hiking and I like hiking.
I found out today that 2 of my investigators in Jakarta, the ones that are refugees from Iran, are planning on getting baptized on the 4th of July. I was really happy when I found that out. The gospel really blessed their lives and I know it can bless every single person's life in ways they can't imagine. The Gospel is amazing and has the power to heal every soul and answer any question.
Oh ya and I also ate bat and boar the other day haha it was pretty good, maybe soon I can try rat out.
Love you all! Have a great week!
-Elder Hymas-

brother Rilly and I

a birthday party!

 bat and rat meat at the local grocery store